Imagine walking into a room of normal sights, sounds, and smells. Perhaps you hear a telephone ring or turn your head to avoid a glare from a nearby window. Aside from a fleeting thought of who was calling or whether the blinds should be lowered, you quickly process these things and carry on.
To someone with sensory issues, however, the same environment is excruciating. Each object that moves makes a startling clatter or bang. The overhead lights are as glaring as an oncoming car’s high beams on a dark night. Each voice is a muffled roar. The crowd of voices is as jarring as a freight train.
But there is hope for those suffering.
The Arc of Southeast Mississippi, a non-profit organization supporting individuals and families faced with the challenge of a disability, is committed to offering sensory therapy to their clients.
Make Your mArc, a fundraising event benefiting The Arc, aims to fund a new sensory therapy space on The Arc campus where clients can learn how to navigate these once unbearable environments.
The Make Your mArc event, scheduled for September 12 at the downtown Hattiesburg Train Depot, is a fundraiser celebrating the different and beautiful ways each Arc client makes their mark on the community. During Make Your mArc the original artworks of local artists and celebrities, created in collaboration with Arc clients, will be offered for auction.
More than a dozen local artists and celebrities have signed on to the project and will create original works of art in collaboration with an Arc client in the coming weeks. Their art will be available for purchase through an auction at the Make Your mArc event.
Make Your mArc is a Leadership Pinebelt Class of 2019 small group project. Sponsorship opportunities range from $100 to $1,500. To partner as a sponsor or artist, please call (601) 255-3692 or email MakeYourMarc2019@gmail.com.
