Beneficiaries

Review our 2023 financials HERE

Beneficiaries

Gwinnett County Special Education Fund

In celebration of Max’s 12th birthday on July 24th, 2023, we committed $12,000 to support early education special needs classrooms in our community.

Christmas Families

Each year we adopt one to three families for Christmas. We fulfill children’s wish lists (the special needs child(ren) and their siblings), and stock them with necessities: clothes, coats, shoes, etc. Since 2018, we’ve given more than $30,000 to assist parents with home and medical expenses. We’ve also gifted everything from grocery gift cards to kitchen tables and chairs.

**Our families are referred to us by medical providers.

Easter Seals/Babies Can’t Wait Children

We partner with All About Kids Therapy Services to host an annual book drive that benefits Easter Seals/Babies Can’t Wait children and their siblings. As of 2021, we have gathered and donated nearly 1,000 books.

Northside Hospital Forsyth-NICU

Max spent his first month of life in the Northside Forsyth-NICU. It was a harrowing time, full of questions and concerns, but we were in exceptional hands. The doctors and nurses provided amazing care, support and comfort to Max and us, his parents.

It is our goal to give back to the place where we spent our first month as a family. We are partnering with the Miracle Babies Fund at Northside Hospital Forsyth to provide needs-based financial assistance to families who are dealing with extended NICU stays.

As of May 2023, we have given $100,000 to the Miracle Babies Fund.

Adapted Bicycles

We have given 3 adapted bicycles to children with special needs. Thanks to our friends at Freedom Concepts, bikes are customized for each child, based on their abilities and favorite colors. We’ve gifted these bikes at Max’s Moon Run, our annual spring event. In 2024, we will be giving two adapted bicycles.

The Music Class

Max began attending music class at 2 years old. With a weekly schedule of therapy and doctor appointments, music class was a big treat. Max's vocabulary was very small when he first began and he hadn't learned to walk yet, but he became the loudest, most enthusiastic student over the years, always thrilled to jump up and sing, clap and dance with the beloved Miss Mary.  

The Music Class offers classes for infants to 7-year-olds in Georgia and beyond. Special needs families often skip classes like these, either for lack of extra money, or for fear their money will be wasted because of sickness-based absences. We have established The Maximus Janton Scholarship for special needs students, to alleviate financial concern for parents and allow them to focus on fun.

Wonder Night

Gwinnett Church hosts Wonder Night, an opportunity for respite for special needs families. At the event in December, we surprised each of the 39 participating families with $100. We hoped this gift would help with expenses during the holiday season. If the money wasn’t needed, we suggested parents give the money to a special needs family in need. The response we received was so moving. Some parents said the money helped them afford gifts or extra groceries, others shared that they were so happy to pass the money along to a cause or another family. What a gift to watch our love for Max reach so many.

Roberts Elementary

The donations are being used to update the RES sensory room which will provide a therapeutic environment for Roberts’ special education students, acting as a calm space for them to take intentional breaks during their school day when they are overwhelmed. Specific equipment being purchased includes a new hammock swing, LED sensory bubble tubes, fiber optic waterfall lights, adaptive lounge seating (large beanbag chairs) and weighted blankets. The school surprised us when they hired an artist to paint an outer space mural on the wall with Max as the astronaut.

Other Ways We Have Helped Our Community:

  • We gifted $2,000 to assist campers with tuition to attend FOCUS + Fragile Kids summer camp.

  • We gifted seed money to another bereaved family to assist them in launching their own foundation that benefits the special needs community.

  • We have Christmas caroled for bereaved families.

  • We have contributed thousands to Go Fund Me accounts in support of special needs children and families in crisis situations.

  • Prior to COVID, we partnered with All About Kids Therapy Services and Easter Seals to donate new and gently used books to special needs children. More than 1,000 books were given.

  • We provided a $5,000 scholarship to enable a family to afford the Costello Syndrome Family Network Conference.

  • We’ve gifted over 100 Halloween costumes to patients at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

  • We provided a hospital grade bed and mattress to local man with special needs.

  • On Valentine’s Day 2014, we surprised a local special needs classroom with new supplies and sensory toys.

  • We fulfilled the wish lists of special needs teachers.

  • We catered lunch for 229 villagers and employees at Annandale Village, a non-profit residential community that serves adults with developmental disabilities and acquired brain injuries. We also provided lunch for a staff of 25 at the Northside Hospital Forsyth NICU to thank them for the amazing service they provide hundreds of families each year.

  • We provided dozens of new coats and warm clothes to a local school.

A small percentage of our funds support families whose typical children (children who do not have special needs) experience a health crisis. We have supported families whose children have been hospitalized in emergent situations, and we have also assisted with funeral and burial costs for bereaved families.