Haley Moss, Autistic Teen Honored at New York Event

The 10th annual Samsung Hope for Children event in New York featured former President Bill Clinton, Jennifer Lopez, Demi Moore and Dan Marino, but a Parkland teenager nonetheless stood out.

Haley Moss, autistic but with artistic talent to burn, was honored with the Teen Hero award by Marino, who she is working with to raise funds for children with special needs. Other stars at the event took home some of her artworks as gifts while seven were auctioned off to raise money for charity.

“The president gave a speech at the beginning of the event,” said Moss, 16. “He was holding my artwork the entire time. He spoke about it, how special it is. I walked the red carpet along with the celebrities and got to speak with pretty much everyone except the president. I also got interviewed a lot. Everything about the event was amazing.”

The highlight of the evening, she said, was speaking in front of a large group of people who shared her passion for helping the less fortunate.

“I spoke about how it is possible to make your dreams come true, how one should use God-given talent to help people,” Moss said. “There were about 800 people, and they gave me two standing ovations: one when Dan called me up and later when I was done with my speech. It was really, really special.” (read full article)

Source :: South Florida Sun-Sentinel