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Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Flutie takes to court to benefit autism services

flutie.jpg

Doug Flutie playing a different sport than usual -- for charity
(Photo courtesy of the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism)

NATICK

Doug Flutie's team lost the championship, but his charity won big time.

The Natick native's 8th Full Court Charity Challenge raised more than $200,000 to benefit autism services and a Massachusetts General Hospital learning center for children and adults with developmental disorders.

The March 3 benefit featured a round robin basketball tournament at Basketball City in Boston. Team Flutie advanced to the finals of the tournament but fell to a team sponsored by Tudor Investments.

In its eight years, the basketball charity event has raised more than $1 million for the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism and MassGeneral's Learning and Development Disabilities Evaluation and Rehabilitation Services program (LADDERS). The Heisman trophy winner and his wife, Laurie, started the autism foundation in 1998 to honor their son, Doug Jr., who was diagnosed with autism at age 3.

-- John C. Drake

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