The Florida Recreation & Park Association (FRPA) held their Annual Conference earlier in September, which recognized different parks and recreation organizations for their commitment to healthy living and community growth.
There were 17 awards in total given out and one of them went to Palm Beach Gardens Recreation for offering Love Serving Autism (LSA) to their diverse array of citizens.
Love Serving Autism’s mission is to “expand life skills, especially functional communication, through multidisciplinary specialized therapeutic tennis instruction to increase community inclusion and independence of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Developmental Challenges.”
The Love Serving Autism program was recognized with it’s innovation in Florida adaptive tennis.
A partner organization with USTA Florida, Love Serving Autism has seen an overwhelming amount of success in the adaptive tennis scene throughout the state of Florida. This success was rewarded at the Florida Recreation & Park Association Annual Conference.
When it was time to name the winner for the “Innovative Programming Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” Award, it was revealed that the Love Serving Autism’s Therapeutic Tennis Camp at Palm Beach Gardens Recreation won. Lisa Pugliese, the founder of LSA said the program is extremely thankful to be recognized for their hard work.
“On behalf of Love Serving Autism, we thank FRPA and the Palm Beach Gardens Tennis and Pickleball Center for embracing and celebrating inclusion for neurodiverse individuals in our community,” Pugliese said.
USTA Florida stands firmly that “Tennis is for all” and Love Serving Autism has done a tremendous job staying true to that motto. With their goal set to get participants to apply their newly learned skills throughout the community, LSA has gone above and beyond with their work in the state of Florida.
Love Serving Autism has been a massive asset to adaptive tennis in Florida and around the country, and USTA Florida congratulates them on this achievement.
