Celebrate National Autism Awareness Month and Other Causes at Filanthropists.com

April brings more than just showers to the 1.5 million Americans affected by autism, along with their loved ones and supporters. Celebrated since the 1970s by the Autism Society, National Autism Awareness Month brings recognition to the spectrum disorder, from the importance of early diagnosis to the millions of dollars spent each year caring for those with autism by their families. While there may be no cause or cure (at present) to autism, there are ways to treat it, especially if detected at an early age.

Still, parents of children with autism spend a fortune on support that lasts the duration of their child’s lifetime — and we, whether or not we’re associated with autism, can help.

Filanthropists.com is one way to not only encourage but also promote the cause. Founded in July 2010 by Filomena Laforgia, whose son was diagnosed at age three, this online shopping mall is a one-stop shop for products whose proceeds assist all sorts of causes. Naturally, there is a heavy emphasis on autism organizations —Autism Speaks, the Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism, and Jenny McCarthy’s Autism Organization-Generation Rescue, to name a few — with more than three dozen items that either show support of or help those with autism.

“I realized I was not alone in my quest to develop a product that had a “for a cause” effect,” says Laforgia. “In fact, there were thousands of cause-related products in the market place with thousands of great causes all struggling to be noticed. It was that realization that led me to create Filanthropists.com.”

The beauty of the site is the ability to search by cause, product category and charity. Want to support the National Autism Association? Find the organization’s name under “Charity/Non-Profit” and you’ll see a necklace and a t-shirt. Looking for a puzzle for an autistic child? Click on the “Toys” category to discover three wooden educational jig-saw puzzles ranging from $59.95 to $189.95. Feel like helping wildlife for a change? Select “Wildlife Conservation” under Causes, where items like sheep wool baby booties ($12) and hand-embroidered organic cotton napkins ($18) can be found.

You’ll also find a number of smaller, lesser-known organizations on Filanthropists.com, which offers these charities and non-profits an opportunity to sell their items without having to spend a lot on their own, thereby absorbing more of the donation from the sales of the products. The site also helps link those with products to sell with organizations needing an item, and vice versa. Filanthropists.com also provides a space for people to share their causes with Faces of Filanthropists.com, where anyone, even those who don’t make a purchase, can name their cause/charity and then upload a photo of themselves to go along with their statement.

About Filanthropists.com
Filanthropists.com is a one-stop online shopping mall for the purchase of cause-related products. Founded by North Jersey mom Filomena Laforgia in July 2010, four years after her three-year old son was diagnosed with autism, the site features a variety of products from merchants and local and national organizations that are committed to the sale of these products to support fundraising efforts for their specific cause. The site’s name not only plays on the founder’s first name, but also shows how a socially conscious individual can make a difference through the simplest of acts. By buying a cause-related product, we can all be Filanthropists. For more information, please visit www.filanthropists.com.