The Exceptional Foundation

Can you tell Niles had the BEST day at the Nick’s Kids Foundation annual luncheon? 🐘🏈 The Foundation, started by Nick and Terry Saban, has supported our summer camp for years, and we are beyond grateful for their support. Niles represented The Exceptional Foundation at the luncheon, where he met Coach Saban, got autographs from the players, and learned that he and Roydell Williams are both from Hueytown!

This month's volunteer spotlight is Richard Laube, a cancer biology student at UAB! Richard started volunteering at The EF this summer, and the blue group always looked forward to playing basketball with him at the end of the day. 🏀

If you are interested in volunteering with your school, company, or just on your own, find more information about getting involved in our bio!

Reminder: our programs are closed for the next two weeks for staff training. We’ll see you back on Monday, August 14 for the first day of our fall term!

Thank you to all our fulltime and summer staff, community partners, and volunteers for making summer camp possible for our youth! We are so appreciative of all your hard work and are happy to share that this was our biggest summer EVER! ☀

That's a wrap on our largest summer camp EVER at The Exceptional Foundation! Over eight weeks this summer, we served 115 campers, went on 76 field trips, and had weekly visits from our dance, science, and music partners. From the tried-and-true friendships to the brand new ones, we love to give youth with intellectual disabilities a community and an unforgettable summer camp experience!

We love pool days at the YMCA of Greater Birmingham. 🏖 Only two days of summer camp left!

Today, the purple group is taking over our Instagram stories for our last Takeover Tuesday of the summer! Head over to our Instagram to follow the group for the day. 💜 https://www.instagram.com/exceptionalfoundation/

Thank you to Southern Company, Southern Power, and ABLE volunteers for hosting our summer carnival last Friday! We had a blast with inflatables, crafts, games, and a petting zoo. It's hard to believe that this week is our last week of camp!

Thank you to our local J.McLaughlin store and our shoppers for making an impact on our programs during their give-back day yesterday! We are so grateful for all your support. 💛

Barbie the Movie is officially in theaters, which means it's the perfect time to celebrate with a few of our resident Barbies! Mattel released their first Barbie with Down syndrome this year, and we love to see inclusion and advocacy for adults and children with intellectual disabilities. 💗

Today's our give-back day with J.McLaughlin at the Summit! 15% of sales from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. will go back to The Exceptional Foundation.

Join us tomorrow at J.McLaughlin's Summit store for a shopping give-back day! From 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursday, July 20, the store will donate 15% of sales back to The Exceptional Foundation. We'll see you there! 🛍

Did you know Mattel released the first Barbie with Down syndrome this year? In partnership with the National Down Syndrome Society, this Barbie has symbols throughout her outfit, including the butterflies and colors that represent Down syndrome awareness and her necklace with three arrows to represent the third 21st chromosome that individuals with Down syndrome have. We are so happy to include this Barbie in our youth center to promote inclusion and advocacy for adults and children with intellectual disabilities!

Join us tomorrow at J.McLaughlin's Summit store for a shopping give-back day! From 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursday, July 20, the store will donate 15% of sales back to The Exceptional Foundation. We'll see you there! 🛍

Today, the gray group is taking over our Instagram stories for this week's Takeover Tuesday! Head over to our Instagram to see our last youth takeover of the summer. https://www.instagram.com/exceptionalfoundation/

Yesterday was National Ice Cream Day, and we can't think of a better day to celebrate Cushman & Wakefield/EGS, our summer ice cream truck sponsor! 🍦 They hosted an ice cream party for our youth and adults on Friday to celebrate our longtime partnership. They've covered the cost of our weekly ice cream truck visits for the summer, and we're so grateful for all their support throughout the year!

We love visiting Sidewalk Film every Wednesday! This is our second summer to partner with Sidewalk Cinema, and all our campers visit the theater every Wednesday for our weekly movie. Thank you to Sidewalk for welcoming us each week! 🎬

We are excited to share that we received $4,393.66 from the Target Circle Guest-Directed Giving Program, thanks to more than 88,000 votes over the last three months! We are honored to be chosen as a Target Circle Nonprofit Partner, and we could not have earned this donation without your help. 🛍♥

Today, the green group is taking over our Instagram stories for this week's Takeover Tuesday! Head over to our Instagram to see what green's been up to this summer. 💚 https://www.instagram.com/exceptionalfoundation/

We had a great time with Alabama Power Foundation volunteers a couple weeks ago! Thank you to this group and the foundation for all your support of our adult and youth programs.

We're still looking for a few more partners for our unified bowling league! Each partner is paired with one of our participants throughout bowling practice and competitions, and it's a super fun and impactful way to get involved in sports at The Exceptional Foundation. If you're interested in joining us, email Athletic Coordinator Taylor English Fareira at [email protected].

Today, the yellow group is taking over our Instagram stories! Head over to our Instagram to follow the group during all their Wednesday activities. ❤ https://www.instagram.com/exceptionalfoundation/

Reminder: We are closed today and tomorrow (July 3-4) for the holiday. Have a happy Fourth of July, and we’ll see you on Wednesday!

Remember to vote for The Exceptional Foundation with your Target Circle votes – TODAY is the LAST DAY to vote during our nonprofit partnership! Use this as an excuse for a Friday night Target run.

Here’s how to vote for us to earn a portion of Target’s charitable giving:
(1) Open the Target app
(2) Go to “My Target”
(3) Hit the Circle logo
(4) Find “Vote for nonprofits”
(5) Tap your votes to cast them for The EF!

This month's volunteer spotlight is on Marci Hall, who's one of our interns this summer! Marci first volunteered at The EF with the UAB Honors College, and she returned earlier this year to start an internship as part of her public health studies. So far this summer, she's been getting to know our youth participants in the gray and red groups!

Learn more about volunteering with us: https://www.exceptionalfoundation.org/get-involved

Can you tell Eva, Anna Kate, and Frances love Target? 🛍 Make sure to use your Target Circle votes for The Exceptional Foundation THIS WEEK! We took a quick trip yesterday to celebrate our Target Circle Nonprofit Partnership, and voting ends this Friday, June 30.

Here’s how to vote for us to earn a portion of Target’s charitable giving:
(1) Open the Target app
(2) Go to “My Target”
(3) Hit the Circle logo
(4) Find “Vote for nonprofits”
(5) Tap your votes to cast them for The EF!

Today, the red group is taking over our Instagram stories for this week's Takeover Tuesday! Head over to our Instagram to follow the group during a day of summer camp. ❤ https://www.instagram.com/exceptionalfoundation/

Thank you so much to Andrew with Alabama Power Service Organization (Magic City Chapter), who spent hours pressure washing our patio and rock wall last week. We're so grateful for Alabama Power Foundation and all their support!

Snead’s Farmhouse Sanctuary has already become a highlight of the summer! Two of our adult participant groups have visited so far and had a blast at the educational farm. 🐔

Wednesday is always ice cream day during the summer, and it's ice cream day for our restaurant week, thanks to Edgewood and Mountain Brook Creameries! From 5-10:30 p.m. tonight, the creameries are both hosting give-back nights for our programs. Edgewood brought our youth and adults ice cream this afternoon to celebrate, and we could not be bigger fans! 🍦

It's always a good day when Hand in Paw's in the building! Animal-assisted therapy is something we love including in our adult and youth programs. 🐶

Raise one paw if you love Hand in Paw. Raise two paws if you love The Exceptional Foundation. Both paws in the air? Wave them like you just don't care 😜 It's always a fun pawty when we visit our friends at The Exceptional Foundation!

This is your sign to go grab donuts and coffee from Hero Homewood! 🍩 Today, all of Pihakis Restaurant Group's Homewood locations – Hero Doughnuts, Little Donkey, and Rodney Scott's BBQ – are donating a portion of sales to The Exceptional Foundation from open to close as part of our restaurant week.

Tuesday, June 20:
7 a.m.-5 p.m. Hero Doughnuts Homewood
11 a.m.-9 p.m. Little Donkey Homewood
11 a.m.-9 p.m. Rodney Scott’s BBQ Homewood

Find our full restaurant week schedule here: https://www.exceptionalfoundation.org/restaurant-week

Tomorrow, the orange group is taking over our Instagram stories for this week's Takeover Tuesday! Head over to Instagram tomorrow to follow the group for the day, and you're sure to see some familiar faces. 🧡 https://www.instagram.com/exceptionalfoundation/

Tomorrow, Restaurant Week starts for The Exceptional Foundation! 🌮 Join us at local restaurants for give-back nights all week to celebrate the summer. Tomorrow night, Taco Mama Edgewood will be donating a portion of sales between 5-9 p.m. back to our programs – we'll see you there!

Here's our full schedule for this week –

Monday, June 19:
5-9 p.m. Taco Mama Edgewood

Tuesday, June 20:
7 a.m.-5 p.m. Hero Doughnuts Homewood
11 a.m.-9 p.m. Little Donkey Homewood
11 a.m.-9 p.m. Rodney Scott’s BBQ Homewood

Wednesday, June 21:
5-10:30 p.m. Edgewood Creamery
5-10:30 p.m. Mountain Brook Creamery

Thursday, June 22:
5-8 p.m. Urban Cookhouse Homewood

We're already two weeks into summer with both our youth campers and our adult participants! ☀ Shoutout to our staff and vendors for creating such a great experience during our busiest months of the year.

Next week, we're having a summer restaurant week at some of our favorite Homewood spots in support for The Exceptional Foundation! Join us for lunch, dinner, and dessert June 19-22 to celebrate the summer as seven different restaurants donate a portion of proceeds to our programs. 🍩🌮🍦

Thank you to all our restaurant week partners: Taco Mama, Pihakis Restaurant Group, Hero Doughnuts, Little Donkey, Rodney Scott's BBQ, Edgewood Creamery, Mountain Brook Creamery, and Urban Cookhouse.

Throughout the summer, we're excited to start Takeover Tuesdays, featuring Instagram takeovers from all seven of our adult and youth participant groups! Today, make sure to head over to our Instagram stories to follow the blue group – our youngest summer camp group – for the day: https://www.instagram.com/exceptionalfoundation/

Summer camp's theme this week is safari! We're excited for another week of camp with our youth and regular programs with our adults. Last week, trips to the The Birmingham Zoo and Snead’s Farmhouse Sanctuary were some early highlights of the summer!

Talk Of Alabama featured our summer camp this morning! Robbie and Bergen shared their favorite things about camp – which, for Bergen, are bowling, dancing, and her friends in the red group. Watch the clip: https://abc3340.com/station/talk-of-alabama/the-exceptional-foundations-summer-camp-kick-off-talk-of-alabama-682023 #

The Exceptional Foundation's Summer Camp Kick Off | Talk of Alabama | 6.8.2023 For more information about summer programming at The Exceptional Foundation, visittheir website www.exceptionalfoundation.org

Alabama State Representative David Faulkner stopped by yesterday to visit with our adult participants! We are so grateful for his support of our programs and participants.

While we were closed for staff training last week, Wayne celebrated his 50th birthday! Wayne became a participant during The EF's early years, and he's well known and loved among the Homewood community. Happy birthday, Wayne!