On Thursday, August 11 the Anna Foundation for Inclusive Education, founded by the Rubright family of Medford, returned to the Cherry Hill Mall for its seventh annual Mall Haul. The Mall Haul is an event that brings together young adults and teens with and without disabilities for an inclusive evening of shopping, eating and breaking barriers.
Each shopper with disabilities was paired one-on-one with a partner, who is typically around the same age and level of education as their shopper. While younger pairs may be assigned a volunteer chaperone, each pair set out into the mall with a goal of independently shopping and getting to know each other better, just like many American teens and young adults do around back-to-school time.
While shopping for a few hours with friends is not a noteworthy occurrence in the life of most young people, many young adults and teens with disabilities are not granted these same social opportunities and may have been shopping independently for the first time at the Mall Haul. And for partners, this may have been the first time that they are able to spend a few hours with a person with disabilities.
For each participant, the Mall Haul was a life-changing experience. The event aimed to teach basic financial literacy skills, foster independence and encourage inclusion in all aspects of life, while also being a fun night out in a casual social setting for both shoppers and partners.
By the end of the night, both partners and shoppers left with some great buys, an even greater friendship, and many of them with more confidence, independence, and acceptance of each other.
The Mall Haul was conceived in 2010 and has grown rapidly. The event first hosted eight participants. Last year it hosted 27, and this year that number grew to 37 teens and young adults. Shoppers and partners were each given a $100 gift card to the Cherry Hill Mall for the evening, as well as a blue t-shirt, shopping bag and money for dinner and dessert. The event was about three hours long, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., and started in the mall food court. After dinner, pairs had about two hours to shop together before returning to the food court to show off their purchases. The evening demystified disabilities and gave the shoppers the independence and confidence to make purchases on their own.
Without the support of our community, which stretches from local Medford families and businesses such as Federal Rent-a-Fence in Berlin and Ararat Carpet and Flooring to sponsors in North Jersey and Pennsylvania such as Summit Drilling and Quartz Tubing, the Mall Haul would cease to exist. We continue to look to add new sponsors in order to expand our program and include more teens.
We often have a waiting list. The largest financial supporter of this event for the past four years has been the Knights of Columbus Council 6520 from St. Mary’s of the Lakes, who donate the funds that they raise through their campaign for individuals with intellectual disabilities in the spring. Third Base t-shirts and Trophies from Cherry Hill donate the shopping bags and give the organization an incredible price for the t-shirts they design for our event. Lisa from the Marketing Department at the Cherry Hill Mall has been working with the organization on this event from the very first year. The Cherry Hill Mall donates to our event, includes giveaways and has always been tremendously helpful each year as we plan for the students.
Participants have consistently spread the word about the event to friends, family, and their communities at large in order to garner donations, volunteers, and pairs. This year, we raised more money and hosted more participants than ever before.
To learn more about the impact of the Mall Haul and other Anna Foundation programming more, please visit www.affie.org.
