JM's Journey

09/01/2026

09/01/2026

Recently on a post on the town of Rogersville, Alabama page a man out of Florence, Alabama made a hateful comment about our charity. He questioned our charity and the sincerity of our organization in fundraising. He stated he had “investigated “ our non profit and could not find a public filing on the IRS. Well I’d like to take a moment to explain our charity and enlighten this gentleman on non profits.

First and foremost I will address the IRS situation. The reason you will not find JM’s Journey posted in the 501c3 charities is because we are not a 501c3. To be a 501c3 charity with the federal government your organizations funds must benefit a group of people or a cause such as cancer research or some other cause. We do not do that. We raise funds to benefit James Michael aka JM of JM’s Journey. We do not sponsor autism as a whole or any group of people. We do support autism awareness and advocate for autism every opportunity we get which includes pushing to pass legislation within our state that benefits autism and the children of autism. However the funds we raise at our fundraisers go to support JM who resides in the Rogersville community. The money is deposited into an account in the charity name at the Citizens Bank and Trust in Rogersville, Alabama and is only distributed to help maintain therapies, doctors, teachers, and major expenses for JM. Including but not limited to his speaking device and his service dog, Max.

As we have posted many times, we have been supported by the Masons in Rogersville who have donated to our charity several times. If this gentleman really investigated and learned this fact and had any commonsense then he’d know that the Mason’s can not donate to a 501c3 charity due to the fact they’re a 501c10 organization. You’re welcome to check that out with their organization. JM’s Journey has been blessed by this fraternity several times.

We are one hundred percent accepted as a legal charity in the state of Alabama. JM’s Journey is tax deductible and has been granted a state tax number and certification granting non profit legal charity status. We also have an EIN number for identification through the federal government. We are considered a non profit and not a 501c3. All federal taxes are filed quarterly and proof of every single penny is accounted for or it is taxed through the IRS. Again, we are tax exempt in Alabama. All your donations are tax deductible as a donation to a federally recognized not for profit organization.

We have a board. I am the CEO of the board and we meet monthly as required. All our meetings are open to the general public by appointment. If you’re interested in sitting in on a board meeting contact me and I will arrange your appointment and speaking time on the agenda. Our finances are an open book. If you’d like to see where the money goes please contact me and I will arrange this in a private meeting. No money can carry over in the charity accounts so anything left, even a penny, at the years end is donated or taxed. We choose our organization, but most of the time none is left and thousands more from our personal accounts are required to break even. This is a non profit.

Organizations we have supported in the past include RayRays Foundation of Hope, Alabama Autism Society and others. These organizations are 501c3 and benefit others as a whole. Our donations are few and far between because our funds normally expire before years end.

Again, our charity is an open book and always has been. We thank you for you kind and continued support of JM. Without your love and compassion he would not have accomplished as much as he has done over the past several years. It takes a village and we have an awesome one.

To the gentleman in Florence who speaks about things with little knowledge, I invite him to be a guest at a board meeting. I invite him to be an active member of our fundraising committee for next year and see how much hard work and how many personal dollars goes into the fundraiser we do each August. We do this out of love and we do it free. We do it for JM and that he has a chance like everyone else.

Have a blessed day and feel free to post questions. I will answer to the best of my ability.

Thank you,
Stacy
256-710-1551

"A journey through Autism." 2026 AUTISM AWARENESS FUNDRAISER DATE SET - AUGUST 22, 2026

08/25/2026

I am needing a car decal done. Would like QR
Codes if possible where the links are. Who can do them?

08/24/2026

I dread making this post every year because I do not want to leave anyone out, but they insist that I do the official post, so here it goes!! It will be a long one!!

There are so many people behind the kind of event that we do each year that make it a success. Everyone always pats me on the back and says I do an amazing job, but planning is only a small part. It is the awesome friends and neighbors that we have who pull off the plans and make them work! THOSE are the true heroes in this, and they always humble me every year!!

We had some amazing bands this year. Probably one of the very best years we have dealt with music. Every single one that took the stage from 8 am until the final at 5 pm, performed with everything in their soul. They left their hearts on that stage, and they had people in the audience standing, dancing and rocking all day! To each of them I say thank you. I wish I could say, well so in so was the best, but I truly cannot!! They all were so dang good it would be impossible to choose!! If you missed it then I can truly tell you that you missed one of the best event concerts in the Rogersville area EVER!! Thank you to each one for your help and for your awesome shows!!

Thank you to the "man", Mr. Donnie Hoot Gibson and his beautiful wife, Linda, the owners of Sound Made EZ in Courtland!! THE ABSOLUTE BEST!! I am totally in belief of that quote, and you will not change my mind! He knows how to make everything sound wonderful and does a fantastic job from beginning to end. We love you "Hoot" and always will!

Mark White of The Mark White Show is the very best emcee around and has dedicated his talents to our charity for many years now! He started with us in Muscle Shoals and followed with us to Rogersville and is still in support of our little boy!! Thank you, Mark, you will always be at the top of our list!!

We want to thank the 126 vendors who came out in support and withstood the heat to have a little fun! We had some of the most beautiful, decorated tents ever this year!! It was a tough choice on the winners, but in the judges finally settled on winners after a long discussion. Our furthest traveler was Valerie Bornes with her business, Barefoot and Gluten Free, who traveled all the way from Foley Beach near Florida. Our best decorated booth was such a tough decision we had an honorable mention too! The winner was Kayleigh Parker with her business Parker Parties, and the honorable mention was Megan Brianne Kimbrough with Banners by Megan. Kayleigh also did the decorations for our park this year and did a fantastic job. Thank you! Megan made the official banner for our event, and it was so precious. I sent a lot of people to you gals over the weekend!! To the rest of the vendors, I walked around and I have to admit I saw some of the most beautiful items I have ever seen at an event. You all did a fabulous job on your crafts! I spent way too much as I am sure everyone else did because the shopping was simply amazing!! GREAT JOB!!!

On the other end of the vendor lineup was our food vendors. We were blessed with the most amazing group of food vendors this year. From the tent cottage bakers to our licensed food trucks, the choices were simply amazing!! I want to give a special thanks to Mufasa's Den and Pork Belly BBQ for being our official trucks to feed our volunteers this year. You did a fantastic job, and all volunteers were very happy with the food choices! Thank you!! Another special shout out to Fat Cats Restaurant - Rogersville, Alabama for supplying our breakfast for the volunteers. They devoured the biscuits in just a few minutes! They were awesome and you were too! We all love our local cafe in town!

Then onto the special chef of the day, J.R. Shell, aka The Shrimp Pimp, and his awesome shrimp boil!! I saw more than a few plates being carried by people and a few of them going back for seconds. I am not a seafood person, but those who were said it rocked! A tad on the spicy side, but awesome nevertheless!!! It smelled delicious, but I just could not make myself try it!! However, you were correct, Mr. Shell, the corn was delicious! I boiled some today!! Thank you, Patricia Heith Byers, for bringing us fresh corn!!

This brings me to the car show. All I can say is WOW!! Thanks for the huge turnout, folks!! We broke our record with 137 total cars registered!! One of the most beautiful groups of cars I have seen. I will be posting the winners in a separate post and maybe grab a few pictures too, but trust me, if you missed this show, you missed some gorgeous cars and trucks!! Even a dune buggy entered by Roger J. Hamlin!! It would not be an Autism Awareness Show without an entry from the Dukes of Hazzard man himself!! Thank you for all your help!

The behind-the-scenes efforts is what makes the car show go so smoothly. I was told by so many over the weekend that it was dead on time, and they loved that about our show! I want to thank the best score talliers in town for making the registration go so smooth and the scores pop out so fast. Diane Springer and April Reding you did a fabulous job! Also, a shout out to Stacey Calvert, who is normally right there with them but was in rehab recovering from a hip injury a few weeks ago. Get well and we will see you next year! Thank you to Ricky Springer for gathering your judges and doing such an awesome job getting the cars in place and judged in a timely manner! We love our car show crew!! Jayson Springer you were missed this year!! I want to see you back next year!

Our sponsors, you are the world to us, and you helped give our autistic children a great weekend. They played in a foam party. They had a fantastic Princess Party. They caught prize balloons in a balloon dome. They played games, played with bubbles and got free balloons. It was all because you cared enough to become a sponsor of our event. Thank you goes out to Wade Newton of AC Innovations, Crossroads Family Clinic, LLC, Elgin Medical Center, America's Outdoor Realty, Dean's Clothing, Tim Sennett, and LuLu's Party Company.

Thank you to all our local businesses who gave freely of door prizes for our event. There are too many to name, but we appreciate each and everyone. Please patronize these businesses with your gift cards and tickets.

I could go on and on and I have probably left out a lot of people. It does not mean your any less important, just that I am old and very tired after the past week! SO, I will get to the important announcement.

Thanks to our community, friends, family and all who supported our event this year we managed to raise a total of $10,726.77 for JM's Journey! God has truly blessed us and I am, now crying as I type because thanks to you and your generosity JM will have another year in school and therapies that he so desperately needs. We are truly blessed and honored to be a part of this community in which we live!

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

The Hawkins Family - Ashley, Matt and JM

The Peebles Family - Keith and Stacy Denise Peebles

The Hawkins - Loretta and Luke

08/22/2026

Today the day!!! Come out and see all the sights! We’ve worked hard for you guys to have a great day! Max made a small appearance yesterday. It’s just way too 🥵 hot for him. JM will be here later today. Say hello, grab pictures, and have fun! Tag us in all your photos with

Share, share, share!! Less than a month away! Any questions? Call or text Stacy at 256-710-1551!

08/22/2026

Tomorrows the big day! Come out to Rogersville’s park for the Fifth Annual Autism Awareness Fundraiser & Car Show benefiting JM's Journey!! We can’t wait to see you there!!

04/08/2026

Every year when we get ready to do the fundraiser, someone always messages us with the complaint of us using the puzzle piece symbol during advertisement. The autistic puzzle piece was introduced originally by the National Autistic Society of the UK in 1963 by member Gerald Gasson. He thought it was a perfect representation of the challenges he faced with his child and autism. Originally, the puzzle featured a crying child but has since went to a single puzzle piece. However, what was once a symbol for a search to understand our complex children, it can now be highly controversial. Some believe it is showing that an autistic individual is broken and in need of being fixed in some way. Since the early 2000s, people are leaning towards a rainbow infinity symbol if they do not agree with the puzzle piece.

Here at JMs Journey, we do not believe anyone is broken or in need of repair. We use all symbols. You’ll see puzzle pieces, infinity symbols, and all colors used.

So whether you “light it up blue or red”. Or wear a puzzle or an Infinity sign. We support you and your journey either way.