Southborough, MA – The Daniel Jordan Fiddle Foundation announced that it will award The New England Center for Children a $5,000 grant to fund a Student Council enhancement project. The New England Center for Children, a residential and day school serving individuals diagnosed with autism, behavior disorders, Pervasive Development Disorder, and related disabilities, will use the grant to establish a peer mentoring program with the Student Council of a local public high school. The program aims to provide students at The New England Center for Children the opportunity to learn from the established high school Student Council while facilitating a deeper understanding of autism in the public high school students. The Student Council at The New England Center for Children organizes fundraisers, talent shows, school proms, and other events that promote social activity for its students. This is the first grant that The New England Center for Children will receive from The Daniel Jordan Fiddle Foundation. For more information about The New England Center for Children, please visit www.necc.org.

The Daniel Jordan Fiddle Foundation was established in January 2000 as a tribute to the life and legacy of Danny Fiddle. The foundation provides grants to programs that enrich the lives of adolescents and adults with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). A particular focus is to encourage, through grant-giving, opportunities that honor the individuality of every person with ASD so that each may participate in vocational, recreational, educational and residential opportunities that are suitable, stimulating, and sustainable and allow for maximum integration in the community. For more information about The Daniel Jordan Fiddle Foundation, please visit www.djfiddlefoundation.org.