It's hard to miss the Penn Relays. Last weekend, hundreds of the top track and field athletes in North America descended upon West Philadelphia, lining the streets with yellow schoolbuses.
The smell of Jamaican beef patties and other sidewalk treats wafted contagiously through the air as throngs of tourists and team supporters crowded Penn's campus to take in the sights.
What those people didn't know is that the festivities actually kicked off on a quieter, more charitable note the weekend before.
To commemorate Autism Awareness Month, James Gillespie, a '79 alumnus, and his family ran in the five-kilometer Penn Relays Distance Classic to raise money for autism research. They were joined by seven brothers of the Sigma Nu fraternity, to which Gillespie belonged while he was at Penn.
"I was looking for a venue that was nationally renowned that would not cost us very much to get involved," he said. "We had to measure the impact we could make versus the dollars we had to put in."
Gillespie organized the same event last year but had only five participants. So in an effort to gain visibility and volume, he left a note under the door of Sigma Nu's house, hoping someone there would listen to an alumnus.
It worked: He got a phone call back from Josh Eisenberg not long after. Eisenberg was joined by Sigma Nu brothers Jake Walker, Will Travis, Sid Chandrasekhar, Steve Bibu, Ran Wei and Jeremy Estey.
On the larger scale, there is an annual walk at Citizen's Bank Park in September. Last year it raised $950,000 and similar walks across the country brought in over $27 million.
In 1996 when he was two years old, Gillespie's son, Brendan, was diagnosed with a high-functioning form of autism known as Asperger's Syndrome. Asperger's is characterized by problems in social interaction and restricted and repetitive interests and behaviors.
"My wife saw it," Gillespie said. "She was the one telling me something's not quite right. He wouldn't look us in the eye, loud noises and bright lights would send him into meltdowns . Rain Man-type hysterics."
At first, doctors at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia believed that Brendan was suffering from PEDNOS - Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified - and that he may never even be able to say his own name.
However, with hard work and treatment, Gillespie's son has become a photographer, boy scout, basketball player and a lobbyist - both on his own behalf and on the behalf of others who suffer from Asperger's.
James Gillespie considered the event, which raised $5,000, a success. However, he'd like to expand the sponsorship from friends and relatives to small-scale corporations. But he knows that fighting autism and finding a cure or treatment could be an uphill battle.
"Speaking to scientists and doctors today, you can tell they are on the cusp of something," the older Gillespie said. "They still don't know what it is or why it is."
