Liezl Els raises $35,000 for Autism

On May 14, 2009, Liezl Els opened up the Els Family home at the Bears Club in Jupiter, Florida for her first fundraiser. Having recently relocated from Wentworth, London, Liezl decided the event should be an English Tea Party. Thus, 150 ladies dressed in white enjoyed tea sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and bite-sized desserts in the Els garden. Lunch was accompanied by the popular English cocktail, Pimms and Moet & Chandon champagne. Coleman Garnett, a talented 14-year old with Autism, performed three songs for the guests. The luncheon concluded with a raffle of luxury gifts; winning tickets were drawn from teapots.

The event was underwritten by SAP, the market and technology leader in business software solutions, Terra Nova Services LLC, Moet & Chandon, Liezl & Ernie Els and several private donors.

One hundred percent of the money raised went to The Renaissance Learning Center, a non-profit Palm Beach County public charter school for Autism. The RLC will soon become part of a project close to Ernie and Liezl’s hearts: The Autism Project of Palm Beach County Center of Excellence. When complete The Center of Excellence will be a model for the nation providing children on the Autism spectrum with an educational environment, ages 3-21. It will have a services component for doctors, speech experts and other specialists, an on-site research component and extended services so that Autistic adults can continue to find jobs in an environment that understands them.