Schools, businesses and government agencies showed their support for the autism community by wearing blue and making donations at the Blue Day event yesterday.

Members of Autism Cook Islands (ACI) organised an initiative to collect donations from passing vehicles, offering photoshoots, shirt pins, wristbands, and ACI bags in Avarua, opposite the Police Headquarters.

They also sold Blue Day merchandise, including T-shirts with prints such as “Studio Blue”, “Blue Day 2K25”, and “Good things grow here”.

Metua Douglas Foster, a 19-year-old student with autism, said he enjoyed the event and felt pride and excitement while standing on the roadside, waving at the vehicles that showed their support.

Foster said he enjoyed waving his pom-poms to show excitement, confidence and appreciation for the vehicles whose drivers took the time to stop and donate whatever they had.

He expressed gratitude to everyone who supported Autism Cook Islands.

His mum, Teina Foster, said that the fundraising event went smoothly and was a good way for the kids to interact with one another.

Teina said she was beyond grateful to the people who donated.

The donations aim to create more opportunities for autistic children and to bring specialist autism support to the Cook Islands.

Teina said that there was insufficient support from medical professionals within the country, and she hoped the donations would facilitate bringing in professional support from overseas.

She also said that the Autism Cook Islands programme, which runs throughout the year, helps children gain independence, develop social skills and interact with people outside their comfort zone.

While some members ran the fundraising programme in town, Kat Jensen, ACI’s programme manager, and other members visited businesses to collect donations and held photoshoots. This included Bread and Butter, which sold blue baked goods to show their support.