SRSLY Thanks Community for Support of 2025 Autism Awareness Night

SRSLY Chelsea and Chelsea Athletics are calling their first ever Autism Awareness Night a success, all thanks to the community. The Coalition received $1,000 in donations while selling out their fundraising shirts at the Chelsea Varsity Basketball games on Friday, Feb. 21.

“It gave me so much gratitude to see our community come together and support this cause so enthusiastically,” Kate Yocum, SRSLY Chelsea Director said. “I’ll never forget the looks on our students’ faces when the shirts sold out in less than an hour. The level of support they felt was beyond anything I could have hoped for.”

“I was completely shocked and filled with incredible happiness by the response we experienced! I was just hoping that we would be able to sell all our shirts, let alone run out within an hour!” said Indy Hurst, a Chelsea Varsity student-athlete with autism. “And afterwards, I was told several times by folks trying to purchase a shirt that they would ‘just have to get one next year.’ This not only shows me that people want this to be an annual event, but also that our community is ready to fully embrace students, athletes, performers, and individuals of all abilities.”

The event was designed, planned, and staffed by student athletes with autism and their friends.  It included a fundraising booth, pregame announcements, printed resources, warm-ups for all CHS basketball teams, student section giveaways, and family shirts. All shirt donations went toward a newly established scholarship fund to address the financial barrier students with autism and their families experience during the college application process.

In addition to the $1,000 donated during the event, the scholarship fund continued to receive online donations the following week, bringing the grand total to $1,238. This scholarship will be awarded to a graduating 2025 Chelsea student with autism.

The shirts, wristbands, resources, and additional giveaways were designed by students with the goal of bringing awareness and information to their larger community, making Chelsea a place where students and athletes of all abilities are accepted and included.

Palmer Hurst, a sophomore and football player at Chelsea High School, developed the “We Care” event tagline. When asked why he chose that phrase, he said, “Because it’s not just focused on one person, it’s for everybody, because we should all care.”

The students were thrilled with the support received and were excited to host additional organizations including the St. Louis Center, Chelsea Special Olympics, and the school’s Peer-to-Peer group.

“This event was so widely appreciated and seen, and we got to make a huge difference. I am proud of our community for coming together to support our cause and our hoopers. And I’m proud of myself for turning one bad night, into an entire day that brought hope to our community,” said Indy, who pioneered the event after wanting to respond to an incident of bullying with kindness.

SRSLY hopes to make this an annual event and would like to invite any interested individuals, businesses, and organizations to sponsor the fundraiser in 2026.

“I hope our community and local businesses choose to support this in future years, because I think it will educate the future generations that come through Chelsea and make a difference,” Palmer said.