Did you know that Autism affects 1 in 41 births? With such a high diagnosis rate, it is safe to say that you know of someone personally or professionally whose family has been impacted by a culture where 90% of the people with Autism are either unemployed or underemployed. Today, 50,000 Autistic students are aging out of school each year and will become susceptible to the unemployed/underemployed statistics, or what many refer to as “falling off a cliff”, suddenly their child ages out of school and society leaves the parents or guardians left in the dark to figure out the next steps that lead to a future on their own.

My husband and I (Dr. Lisa Liberatore & Dr. Dimitri Kassaris), were in those aging out statistics as parents who needed to figure out those next steps for our own son Michael. We quickly learned that nothing suitable was out there for Michael, so we created one, called it Luv Michael and we want to “share the Luv” with everyone needing a future for their Autistic child.

Luv Michael is a not-for-profit company designed to combat these statistics and has been considered to be a blessing to many families as we pick up where society leaves off. We train, educate, and employ those young men and women on the Autism spectrum to become a Granologists. We produce delicious, high quality organic, gluten-free, and nut free granola bark, which is hand-mixed and packed with Luv that allows those on the Autism spectrum to have a career that is meaningful, in an environment that is enriching and safe for them.

In our short two years of being a not-for-profit organization, we realized quickly how many people needed Luv Michael as much as we needed it for our own son. Currently, my husband and I have been fully funding our organization and have even donated new building space in Tribeca for the rapid growth and expansion of Luv Michael. However, we can no longer fund and sustain Luv Michael on our own, we need the support of our fellow humanitarians to continue and grow this much-needed organization with us.

Our goal is to raise $1,000,000 that is needed to prepare and transform the Tribeca space my husband and I donated to become our new state-of-the-art kitchen and classroom to support those that rely on Luv Michael. If you would like to learn more about Luv Michael we have taken the liberty of including with this letter some amazing videos of our success including a JetBlue and David Muir segment “sharing the luv” and promoting awareness. We have also attached a timeline and ways you can support our not-for-profit organization. If you are ever in the New York City area and would like to take a tour of our Kitchen in Long Island City Queens we are at your service.

From our kitchen to yours, with Luv,