Attendees helped raise over $600, which included direct donations and participation in raffles for Starbucks’ and beauty product gift baskets. The Bethpage Starbucks matched the money collected with a cash gift of its own. The proceeds from the event will benefit the Long Island Tourette Syndrome’s education advocacy initiative, school programs, social groups and parent/teacher medical information initiatives. In addition to helping a worthy cause, the attendees enjoyed three hours of great family fun - - including games, arts & crafts, balloons, book reading, chalk art and entertainment - - sampled Starbucks’ popular beverages and snacks, won valuable prizes and, most importantly, learned more about a serious disorder that affects hundreds of thousands of young people across America. The Carnival coincided with the May 15 – June 15 period being National Tourette Syndrome Awareness Month throughout the U.S.The fundraiser was the brainchild of Lana Bazer of Massapequa, NY, a recent graduate of Farmingdale University who works at the Bethpage Starbucks. Her mother, Ivy Bazer, serves on the Long Island Tourette Syndrome Association staff as its art therapist. More than a dozen adult volunteers and youth ambassadors from the LI-TSA were on on-hand at the Carnival, supervising the activities, collecting donations handing out informational brochures and speaking on behalf of Tourette Syndrome. AboutTourette Syndrome & The LI Chapter of the Tourette Syndrome Association Tourette Syndrome, which is defined by multiple motor and vocal tics lasting for more than one year, is a neurological disorder which generally becomes evident in early childhood or adolescence before the age of 18 years. The first symptoms usually are involuntary movements (tics) of the face, arms, limbs or trunk. These tics are frequent, repetitive and rapid. The most common first symptom is a facial tic (eye blink, nose twitch, grimace), and is replaced or added to by other tics of the neck, trunk and limbs. These involuntary (outside the patient's control) tics may also be complicated, involving the entire body, such as kicking and stamping. Many persons report what are described as premonitory urges - - the urge to perform a motor activity. Other symptoms such as touching, repetitive thoughts and movements and compulsions can occur. There are also verbal tics. These verbal tics (vocalizations), which include grunting, throat clearing, shouting and barking, usually occur with the movements. The verbal tics may also be expressed as coprolalia (the involuntary use of obscene words or socially inappropriate words and phrases) or copropraxia (obscene gestures). Volunteers run the Long Island Chapter of the Tourette Syndrome Association (LI-TSA). Their mission is to supply help (at the community level) to families affected by Tourette Syndrome by providing support groups, newsletters, conferences, chapter meetings, chapter events, social events, medical and professional referrals, school advocacy by trained staff development volunteers, discounts for members on conference fees and local events and discounts on relevant publications, books and videos to its members in Nassau and Suffolk counties. For further information about Tourette Syndrome and the services available to individuals affected by it, call the Long Island Tourette Syndrome Association at 516-876-6947, e-mail the Chapter at LongIslandTSA@aol.com or visit the organization’s website at www.li-tsa.org. 
Bethpage, NY Starbuck's Helps Raise 'Bucks' and Awareness for LI Tourette Syndrome Association
Lana Bazer (left), who coordinated this event with Starbucks, her mother Ivy (right), who is the art therapist at the LI- Tourette Syndrome Association and her father, Alan who volunteered that day.
More than 300 adults, teenagers and youngsters took advantage of a beautiful Sunday afternoon in early June to participate in the Inaugural Long Island Chapter of the Tourette Syndrome Association’s (LI-TSA) Spring Carnival hosted by the Bethpage Starbucks Coffee House, located at 205 Stewart Ave in Bethpage, NY.
What is is like to be a teenager that has Tourette Syndrome. Alyssa, a 16 year old from California shares her ordeal in the below documentary:
