Whiz Kid Cole Cook: Raising Money for Autism

This week's Whiz Kid is Cole Cook.

Name: Cole Cook

School:

Class: Junior

Achievement: Junior year can be the most stressful year of high school, as students gear up for the college application process. Honor student Cole Cook has chosen to focus his energy on helping a cause that is close to his heart.

Cole's 13-year-old cousin, Liam, is autistic and attends Levittown's . Because of his personal connection with Autism, Cole decided to build a web based campaign to raise money for the small non-profit school that has given his cousin the attention he needs to succeed. Liam is non-verbal and has difficulty with fine motor skills, making writing with a pencil impossible, said Cole's mom, Sharon Cook. This inspired Cole to develop a very specific project around communication and education to raise money to purchase iPads and special software applications for the school.

"These tools will provide children with Autism the ability to potentially communicate with their families, friends and teachers," Sharon said. "It could open up a whole new world for Liam and his classmates."

Key to Awesomeness: Cole's work for Autism has been growing over the past few years, as he has volunteered at fundraising events such as golf outings, Autism walks and special events for the children. Most recently he helped out at the ELIJA School, fixing up the grounds for Autism Awareness Week. Right now, Cole has reached 87 percent of his goal and has raised over $3,000. He still needs help hitting $3,500. "It is his hope that someday a cure for Autism will be found," Sharon said.

Click this link to help Cole with his project.

Each week, Huntington Patch will seek suggestions from readers for individual  kids, youth groups, teens, and even sports teams that wow us with their accomplishments. This is open for every grade level at every school in the Huntington community. Send us your nominations.