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ClayManiacs.com  |  Archive  |  Media & Appearance Archive  |  10/21/03 HOW DO YOU TAKE THE MEASURE OF A MAN?
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Author Topic: 10/21/03 HOW DO YOU TAKE THE MEASURE OF A MAN?  (Read 1975 times)

Marilyn

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10/21/03 HOW DO YOU TAKE THE MEASURE OF A MAN?
« on: April 27, 2010, 11:38:33 PM »
Pamela
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HOW DO YOU TAKE THE MEASURE OF A MAN?
« on: October 21, 2003, 11:09:26 AM »   

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How Do You Take the Measure of a Man?
The ‘Look What Love Has Done’ Campaign and the Bubel/Aiken Foundation
by Kerry Holjes -- 10/21/2003

Many people in the music and entertainment industry have been unable to resist playing off the title of Clay Aiken’s new CD, Measure of a Man.  I am not in the music business, but I have my own take on the measure of Clay Aiken, the Raleigh, NC, native gone pop phenomenon. I’ve spent the past three months as a member of the Look What Love Has Done campaign, the fan-based fund raising arm of Clay Aiken’s Bubel/Aiken Foundation.

During that time, I have learned certain things about Clay that the media has given short shrift. Much ado is made about Clay’s personal life – his birth father, his appearance make-over, his once quirky toenail habits – but very little has been said about his dedication to a cause so much bigger than all of the rest of it. You may ask – bigger than a meteoric rise in the recording industry? My answer is, yes, even bigger than his exploding music career.

The Bubel/Aiken Foundation is a reflection of Clay Aiken’s real heart. It embodies the soul you glimpse behind the green eyes, the depth of emotion that colors the chords of his songs.  The point of the Foundation is to bring the world into the lives of the many children who are now locked away from its wonders. Clay, through his Foundation, envisions a world where all young people with developmental disabilities are totally immersed in all life has to offer. That may sound like a simple goal, but if you speak with the parents of special needs children, as I have over the past few months, you will learn how life changing this goal is for these families.

Talk to Karen from Minnesota about her son with autism, and she will tell you that:
'The Special Ed director has cut so much funding in our district to save money, and one of the areas she cut, was in Educational Assistant support. My son cannot be anywhere in the building without an aide, so they just stick him in the resource room with 3 other autistic kids, and only one aide They think I don't know that they do this, but I do. How is my son ever going to be a contributing member of society when he's an adult, if the schools won't even include him in a 4th grade classroom?'

She concludes by telling me that:
'This is why I'm so glad Clay has started this foundation. Now I know he can't press any issues in schools, as they are their own government... but if the foundation can assist special need kids in other areas and programs, then hopefully the idea behind that will spill back over into schools. Or if it doesn't, then at least kids like my son will get the quality time they need with "typical kids" in programs like at the YMCA. In turn, those "typical kids" will learn life long lessons that can only be taught to them by exposure to children with disabilities. It becomes a win-win situation for everyone involved.'

Karen is only one of thousands of parents who have responded to the promise of better lives for their children being extended to them by a thin young man with a re-made look and a God-given voice that helps mesmerize the same children his Foundation will be assisting.

Ask again about how to take the measure of a man. Then please come to the Bubel/Aiken Look What Love Has Done website and buy a raffle ticket (if you live in North Carolina) or check out their eBay auctions of Clay signed jerseys and CDs to help us make this young man’s promises come true.
 
 
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