HOT NEWS! Plano, TX Mom Turned Entrepreneur of Child With Autism Wins "Finalist" in Facebook BIG BREAK for Small Business From American Express OPEN

PLANO, Texas, July 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Over 11,000 businesses throughout North America applied for the Facebook BIG BREAK for Small Business from American Express OPEN in the spring contest, and only 10 were chosen as Finalists.  May we introduce you to this Plano, TX Mother of a child with special needs, Dawn Grosvenor, who made it to the top of the list!  The judging panel for American Express consisted of 4 key individuals:  Laura Fink, Vice President: OPEN Social Media and Customer Marketing, Adele Cooper, Facebook: Director of Global Customer Marketing & Communications, Guy Kawasaki, Author & Digital Media Pioneer and John Battelle, Founder/Executive Chairman: Federated Media Publishing Inc.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101021/DA86207LOGO)

Camera crews were rushed in and filmed Dawn Grosvenor's products, the children with special needs that she creates them for, and reviewed her ad-free Facebook page, www.facebook.com/HOPELights with more than 26,000 parents internationally that seek support, hope and daily motivational words of wisdom to cope with the tough challenges of raising a child with special needs.

What's Next?  American Express posted the top ten finalist videos on their Facebook site, shortly after midnight:  www.facebook.com/ShopSmall and now it is up to the world at large to vote for their favorite entrepreneur.  Voting began July 5th at 12:01am ET and ends promptly on July 19th, 11:59pm ET.  The top 5 winners head straight to Facebook Headquarters in Palo, Alto CA to receive $20,000 for a Facebook makeover.

Dawn has worked hard over the last few years to provide new resources for families dealing with loss, tragedy and chronic childhood diseases.  Please help her represent Texas!  Our calendar is open for interviews and we have an on-line digital media kit for electronic distribution.

Dawn Grosvenor also stated, when asked about the "size" of her market -- "According to the Annual Disability Statistics Compendium: 2010, one in every 11 children in the United States between the ages of 6 and 21 are classified as special needs students.  To make that easier to understand – that is more than the entire population of Israel.  Also, one in eight people are living with some sort of disability in the United States – to give you an idea of what that means...we estimated that each of those individuals with special needs have an average of 4 family members that love them... that would mean 1 in every 2 people in the united states are impacted with this plight. A total estimate of 144 Million people. This number would equal the entire population of Russia.  Our mission is to improve the quality of emotional support programs through cutting-edge Social Media techniques and break-through strategies that are refreshing, resilient and offer coping skills to a population that is desperately underserved.  Remember, over 80% of families caring for a special needs child typically end in divorce. These parents are at-risk for depression, suicide and other tragedies – you see and hear these stories in the news every day.  Please help me be a voice of hope and transform despair into inclusion, isolation into strength and provide support services for those parents on the edge."

About our Products:

HOPELights™ provides a ground-breaking approach for inspiring joy and learning for children with special needs like Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down syndrome or any diagnosis that presents communication or cognitive delays.  The monthly activity magazine is custom-printed via VDP (Variable Data Processing) for children with their name on the cover with large print and also inside.  The monthly subscription magazine utilizes a unique blend of real-world photography, gestalt learning methodology, sheet music integrated with color and reading trace, and harmonic color synchronization that provides self-confidence, fun and anticipation of a monthly magazine built just for that child.  We call this process Gentle Methods™.

"HOPELights™ is improving the quality of life for children all over North America, and our growing inspirational community of more than 26,000 Parents of Children with Special Needs on Facebook tells us that we are on the right track...rolling out the red-carpet for families that love children with special needs and focusing on the child as an individual - not their disability,"  said Dawn Grosvenor, Founder of HOPELight Media. "Recently we won the PTPA award – for curriculum and design from the largest volunteer parent testing database in North America.  The experience was exciting, thrilling and validated our mission. We are delighted that the parent testers at PTPA have validated and honored HOPELights™ with the Seal of Approval."

Wall Street Journal Article/Reference:  http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20110421-909818.html

AMEX Original Contest:  http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/marketing/video/facebook-big-break-for-small-business

Follow Up Summary Commercial:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vAUVxVRbaM

HOPELights Finalist Video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpCkA9RtZuQ

About HOPELights™

HOPELights™ contact information: Leslie Marcus, (972) 822-6754 for more information or [email protected].

HOPELight Media, LLC was founded by Dawn Grosvenor, mother of a daughter who was diagnosed with autism. HOPELights serves the purpose of developing materials and activities for special needs children that motivate and educate through positive, holistic stimuli. The materials are well suited across the range of special needs and provides support to many levels of Autism, Down syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, MR, Spinal Bifida, Muscular Dystrophy and any child experiencing sensory or cognitive delays. The HOPELights magazine is the first of its kind targeted specifically to support the sensory needs of "differently-abled" youth. The company strives to support the unique population of parents, families, and children with an uncompromising, sustained effort of inclusion and joy.  Dawn's book, "If I Had Words," has been an enlightening piece of inspirational work for parents that have children who are non-verbal, providing new perspectives and insights that calm and soothe the hearts of parents and families of children and adults with special needs.

For more information, visit www.hopelightmedia.com   |   [email protected]

© 2011 HOPELights Media. All rights reserved.

CONTACT:
Leslie Marcus
[email protected] - (888) 503-7553 or (972) 822-6754
www.facebook.com/ShopSmall | www.hopelightmedia.com | www.facebook.com/HOPELights

SOURCE HOPELights