From staff reports
The local Autism Stands group has reached another milestone as the Franklin Police Department will be joining Oil City police in sporting autism awareness stickers on their patrol vehicles.
Last November, Oil City police became the first department in the country to put autism awareness stickers on their cars, and since that time several other departments in the U.S. have followed their lead, according to Autism Stands founder Brandy Hinojosa.
Hinojosa also believes that now, with the addition of Franklin, Venango County will be the only county in the country to have two departments with the awareness stickers.
Hinojosa started the group in 2013 and hosted its inaugural autism walk in April 2014.
Autism Stands has had upswings and downswings of attendance and fundraising, but Hinojosa has never given up on advocating for the one in 59 children on the autism spectrum in the United States.
The group is holding a vote-off between seven possible sticker designs on its Facebook page to decide what design will go on Franklin police cars.
Votes will be tallied and the two most popular designs will be chosen. Voting ends Sept. 1.
For more information, visit www.Facebook.com/autismstands.
