Dave and Mindy Rice are from Las Vegas, Nevada. Dave Rice is currently the head coach of the men's basketball team at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Dave and Mindy have two boys and their 9 year old son Dillon has autism. In response to the personal way in which autism has touched their lives they established the Dave Rice Foundation on February 9, 2012 (Source). Dave and Mindy Rice are Autism Lights for their work to make a difference for autism as parents and as creators of an autism foundation.
D.J. Allen, Sr., the Associate Athletic Director at UNLV said, "Anyone who has ever been involved in the life of a special needs child at any level understands the amount of love, dedication and sacrifice that goes into that child to maximize his or her potential. What Dave and Mindy have decided to do is personal. They're not doing this for sympathy. They're doing it because it's the right thing to do (Source)."
Education: Dave Rice graduated from UNLV in 1991 with a B.A. and 1993 with an MBA.
UNLV Basketball: Dave Rice was a member of the UNLV Men's Basketball team during the 1989-1990 season, when UNLV won the National Championship. After 11 years as an Assistant Coach for UNLV and one year as an Assistant Coach for Brigham Young University, Dave Rice became the head coach at UNLV on April 10, 2011. In the 2011-2012 season UNLV won 26 games and made it to the 2nd Round of the NCAA Tournament.
Dave Rice Foundation: Here is a video of Dave and Mindy Rice talking about their autism foundation.
Dave and Mindy Rice started the Dave Rice Foundation on February 9, 2012. Dave Rice serves as Chairman of the Board and Mindy Rice serves as Secretary/Treasurer of the Board. Dave Rice said, "Shortly after we moved back to Las Vegas, we saw this as an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others, and to bring about attention to the needs of those who are affected by autism (Source)."
According to the Dave Rice Foundation website they are a "non-profit, tax exempt organization dedicated to the education and support of health initiatives including developmental disorders such as Autism, and other charitable causes. The Dave Rice Foundation will be partnering with the UNLV Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Dave Rice said, "The difficulty with autism is that we would go to the doctor and he would ask us what we thought. And I thought, 'Aren't you the doctor?' That was the frustrating part. And with this foundation, the education and awareness will just benefit everybody (Source)."
Fundraising Events: On May 4, 2012, the foundation held "An Evening with Dave Rice" as it's first fundraiser (Source). On November 12, 2012, the Dave Rice Foundation held a fundraiser with the support of restaurants in Las Vegas (Source).
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