A crowd gathered together at end of the Autism Color Walk & Roll in Jackson, Missouri. Over 600 participants had started the day with a white t-shirt and ended the day covered head-to-toe in a rainbow of bright powder splotches. Music blared as the group danced and waited for all the participants to finish the track for one final celebration.
As the event drew to a close, the crowd counted down and threw their final handfuls of brightly colored powder toward the sky, creating one last burst of color that hung in the air like a cloud.
A crowd of participants throw colored powder in the air at the end of the first Color Walk and Roll for Autism Awareness of Southeast Missouri.
This event was the culmination of months of planning and partnership between Autism Awareness of Southeast Missouri (AASM) and West View Lodge No. 103. As the first Color Walk and Roll hosted by either organization, the day had exceeded all expectations: bringing the community together and raising over $37,000 to support children with autism and their families.
“It really is a great opportunity to be a part of something like that,” said Brother Paul Kembel, Worshipful Master of West View Lodge No. 103. “Seeing all the kids out there and the smiles — that was just amazing.”
West View Lodge and AASM Join Forces
The idea for a partnership between AASM and West View Lodge began months before the Color Walk.
AASM is a nonprofit organization that provides referrals, education, and community events for individuals with autism and their families.
“There’s a lot of families that get an autism diagnosis and don’t know where to go from there,” said Ashley Showalter, President of AASM and mother to a son with autism. She explained that while there are a range of services available to individuals with autism, families are often confronted with wait lists and other hurdles that can feel daunting.
According to Ashley, AASM helps individuals with autism and their families navigate the existing network of programs and creates other opportunities for support and community.
The board of AASM wanted to re-build their presence in the Cape community after COVID, so they had begun exploring the possibility of a hosting a Color Walk. However, as an all-volunteer organization, they needed additional support to bring it to life. Two volunteers from AASM visited West View Lodge one night to talk to members and make their case.
West View Lodge had also been looking for ways to get more involved in the community, so Lodge members decided that working together on the Color Walk was a win-win for both organizations. West View Lodge decided to sponsor the Color Walk and commit to volunteering the day of the event.
Brother Chris Moser, Secretary of West View Lodge No. 103, also suggested there could be a way to make the funds raised go even further: leveraging the 2:1 match from the Masonic Home of Missouri’s Creating-A-Partnership (CAP) Program. While Brother Chris had read about the CAP program in the past, West View Lodge had never completed a CAP project before. The members of the Lodge agreed to make it happen.
“Masonry teaches us that we’re to help our fellow man and our community out, and this just seemed like a good way for us to assist Autism Awareness of Southeast Missouri,” Brother Paul said. “To help them flourish and get more resources to parents that are stuck and don’t know what to do.”
The Color Walk and Roll
Members of the West View Lodge and AASM volunteer board members gather for a group photo. The first row from left to right is: Julie Maloney, Cynthia Cox, Meghan Tyson, Brittany Ringwald, Ashley Showalter, Loretta King, and Brittany Dietrich. For the second row: Joseph Parker, Travis Tyson, Cody Stuhr, Chris Moser, Corey Thomas, Jim Schmidt, Scott Dickerson and Paul Kembel.
During the Color Walk and Roll, participants of all ages were invited to run, walk, or roll through an ADA-accessible course at the Jackson City Park. As participants progressed through the one-mile loop, they came upon four color stations where volunteers from local groups covered participants in vibrant colored powders.
A group of twelve Job’s Daughter from Bethel #60 volunteered to work the first color station. The group was led by Brother Chris, who is both a member of West View Lodge and the Associate Bethel Guardian of Bethel #60.
“We were big cheerleaders for everybody that came through,” Chris said. “We just had a great time talking, laughing, and throwing color.”
Other members of West View Lodge filled in to volunteer throughout the event: helping with set up, directing traffic, working the registration table, running supplies throughout the event, and supporting AASM volunteers whenever a need arose.
When participants weren’t running the course, they were invited to participate in other free activities that occurred throughout the day. Attendees could take their picture with a superhero or princess, look at a firetruck and a racecar up close, jump in a bouncy house, or walk through the community resource area where 24 local businesses and organizations had set up booths to share resources that support individuals with autism.
During the event, community members were invited to take part in a range of activities such as taking photos with a race car and visiting booths set up by local businesses and organizations.
At the West View Lodge’s booth, Brother Paul’s message to community members was simple:
“Masonry teaches good men to be better men for the community, and this is how we chose to show that as an example to you all.”
A Successful First Year
In some ways, this event was a leap of faith. Ashley had planned Color Run events in Southern Illinois for years before she moved to Missouri, so she was confident she could coordinate a successful event. However, no other AASM board members or members of the Lodge had ever organized a Color Run, and they had no way to know what the response from the community would be.
The board set their initial goal as 250 participants and began working to get the word out.
By April 3 (three weeks before the event), they had 252 people registered.
Then, a week later, that number rose to 435.
By the day of the event, 610 participants had completed registration.
With registration, donations, and sponsorships, the event raised $37,000 for AASM— an amount that will make a significant difference to the resources AASM can offer to children and families in their community.
Of those funds raised, $15,000 will be matched 2:1 by the Masonic Home of Missouri to fund $45,000 of sensory support items for children with autism, such as noise-cancelling headphones, compression vests, and speech therapy resources like communication cards.
After the Color Walk and Roll, AASM volunteers visited West View Lodge on their Lodge meeting night to be presented with the $45,000 achieved through the Masonic Home’s Creating-A-Partnership Program.
The funds that were raised during the Color Walk that are not being matched by CAP will go toward other support programs that the community needs, such as offering parent and caregiver training opportunities, sensory-friendly community events, or swim lesson scholarships for children with autism.
“Our entire board is volunteer based,” Ashley said. “We don’t have any paid positions at this moment. As far as operating expenses, we don’t have a building that we have to take care of, so what we raise goes right back into the community.”
According to Worshipful Brother Paul, seeing the event take shape has fostered a new sense of pride within West View Lodge.
“I have seen a lot of attitudes and lives change through partnering with Autism Awareness, and seeing what our Lodge can do if we just help out and put forth a little effort and work,” Paul said. “It made the Brothers out there think ‘Wow, we did that.’”
Brother Chris shared the sentiment.
“It is a full circle thing that can happen when you do something like this, because it energizes the current members and it draws attention from non-members that say, ‘Hey, that’s something I might want to be a part of.’”
According to Chris, since April, West View Lodge has received four petitions to be considered. He credits the Color Walk as the catalyst for at least three of those petitioners.
“It’s provided a shot in the arm, membership-wise, for us. They’re younger, invigorated individuals that want to help the community, and that’s the sole reason they want to join the Lodge,” said Brother Chris.
In fact, the Lodge members have already started planning for the second annual Color Walk and Run, which will likely take place in April 2027.
“West View Lodge of Millersville, Missouri, is proud to team up with Autism Awareness in Southeast Missouri, and we really, really would like to see everybody come out next year to be a part of it — to meet a lot of the kids that show up, see how it impacts the families that they’re helping, and let it melt your heart. It did mine. It is just amazing how it makes you feel,” Brother Paul said.
For more information about the Creating-A-Partnership Program, visit the CAP information page on the Masonic Home’s website or contact the Masonic Home today at (800) 434-9804.
