![\"us-embassy-autism-day-3\"](\"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/us-embassy-autism-day-3.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Wednesday, April 2 was observed globally as Autism Awareness Day and for the second consecutive year the United States Embassy partnered with the Resources and Education for AUTISM and Related Challenges (REACH) for the \u201cLight it Up Blue\u201d ceremony, to officially observe the occasion in Rawson Square, downtown, Nassau.<\/p>\n
![\"us-embassy-autism-day-1\"](\"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/us-embassy-autism-day-1.jpg\")
The Governor General of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas Sir Arthur and Lady Foulkes, Prime Minister Perry G. Christie, Minister of Social Services Melanie Griffin, Minister of Education Jerome Fitzgerald and U.S. Charg\u00e9 d\u2019Affaires a.i. John L. Armstrong were among the dignitaries on hand for the event.<\/p>\n
In his remarks, President of the REACH organization Mario Carey publicly thanked the United States Embassy for its continued support. He indicated that for the second consecutive year, the Embassy donated blue light bulbs to REACH to distribute to local businesses to participate in the \u201cLight it Up Blue\u201d campaign where owners are encouraged to use the blue lighting throughout the month of April in a visible show of support of autism awareness.\u00a0 The U.S. Embassy\u2019s official residence has joined Bahamian iconic landmarks, hotels and local businesses in the campaign.<\/p>\n
Mr. Carey also used the occasion to highlight a three-day conference on \u201cAutism \u2013 Promoting Inclusion, Advocacy and Early Detection\u201d facilitated by the U.S. Embassy last September that featured Dr. Valerie Karr, Ph.D., an expert on autism detection and early intervention strategies.<\/p>\n
The \u201cLight it Up Blue\u201d ceremony included performances by several local primary and special needs schools and a light of hope tribute where the dignitaries were given a symbolic candle in a show of support for autism awareness, followed by the release of\u00a0 blue balloons.\u00a0 The evening concluded with performances by the Urban Renewal band and the Prodigal Sons Junkanoo group.<\/p>\n
For more information about the REACH organization visit: www.autismbahamas.com. Bottom:\u00a0 U.S. Charg\u00e9 d\u2019Affaires a.i. John Armstrong with Co-chairs of Urban Renewal Cynthia \u201cMother\u201d Pratt and Algernon Allen.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Wednesday, April 2 was observed globally as Autism Awareness Day and for the second consecutive year the United States Embassy partnered with the Resources and Education for AUTISM and Related Challenges (REACH) for the \u201cLight it Up Blue\u201d ceremony, to officially observe the occasion in Rawson Square, downtown, Nassau.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":58842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[61,133,19,163],"class_list":["post-58841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-charity","tag-community","tag-health","tag-society"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58841"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58841\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n![\"us-embassy-autism-day-2\"](\"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/us-embassy-autism-day-2.jpg\")
\nUnited States Embassy, Nassau<\/span>
\nCaptions:<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nTop: Mario Carey, President, REACH and his son Cole with Prime Minister Perry G. Christie, Minister of Social Services Melanie Griffin, U.S. Charg\u00e9 d\u2019Affaires a.i. John L. Armstrong. Back row: Minister of Education Jerome Fitzgerald.<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nSide:\u00a0 U.S. Charg\u00e9 d\u2019Affaires a.i. John Armstrong participates in the rushout with the Prodigal Sons Junkanoo group.<\/span><\/p>\n