NORTH WALES- Put a pin in it, Ben Hartranft continues his remarkable journey of drawing the awareness and growing the fight against autism. During this month of April, Autism Awareness month, Ben has made it a staple to gain as many funds as possible in addition to spreading the awareness to support families and friends battling with autism.

“It started with a phone call. Being on national TV I got people to ask me come to different schools in our community and Philadelphia area so it was definitely amazing to see. My message on those tours is to never let go of your dreams and that they really do come true, even after failing sometimes, it’s important to get up and try again,” explained Ben.

Starting his fundraising efforts with pretzel sales 5 years ago, Ben’s drive to raise some money for the cause and spread the support for autism awareness has given him the opportunity to make appearances on Fox 29 and the Ellen show. Locally, Ben has traveled our community talking to different schools such as York Avenue and Gwyn-Nor Elementary about his life story and awareness efforts. At North Penn High School, Ben and his friend, Tyler Coyne, are the highlight of North Penn Baseball’s annual Autism Awareness game. Every year, Tyler sings the national anthem and Ben throws out the first pitch and afterwards, they both give out Autism Awareness pins and raise money for Ben’s “Benergy” fundraising campaign.

“We have to be a voice to others. Taking autism awareness to action and with events in local areas, it’s a great way of getting the community together and showing support to the autism challenge. I’ve raised over $25,000 already for awareness and it’s really amazing,” said Ben.

During this week, in the final week of April, Boston Style Pizza located in North Wales, had dedicated meals and fundraising to the Eagles Autism Challenge run by Ben who stands as the Eagles Autism Challenge Ambassador. Show your support for Ben and his fundraising by stopping into the restaurant and enjoying a meal and good time all for a great cause. Wrapping up the week on May 5th, people of all ages are urged to join Boston Style and Ben at Parkside Place for an afternoon of food, raffles, fun and opportunities to meet the Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleaders and see their Drumline. See the flyer below for additional information on the day and fundraising events this week to support Ben and his efforts in “Ben”efiting the Eagles Autism Challenge.

“I hope that more people continue to take action for this and be a voice for others. Just talking about it to other people and spread the message that sometimes we have to take courage to talk about autism. My goal is to take this community and make sure that everyone steps up and joins the spread for awareness,” stated Ben.

With one last message to those working on their own fundraising efforts, or the supporting for increasing the understanding autism everyday in our community,  Ben makes it clear that having a message and a passion to help others is all it takes to change a cause, change a fight, and change a life for the better.

“Having autism isn’t a bad thing, it does not characterize who we are, we are all unique and special just like a rainbow,”concluded Ben.