Dr. Hillary Mower William's Garden, a retreat for Autistic children in Cherokee and surrounding areas, recently held its monthly “meet and greet” at New Harvest Church of God in Gaffney.

Guest speaker for the event, Dr. Hillary B. Mower, chiropractic physician and clinical nutritionist at Creative Chiropractic and Wellness, introduced parents and others attending to nutrition response testing, a non-invasive systemof analyzing the body in order to determine the underlying causes of ill health.

Also attending the meeting were Cherokee County Sheriff Steve Mueller and Sgt. Brian Mullinax of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office. In the Jan. 13 edition of The Gaffney Ledger, Sheriff Mueller announced the addition of a program called Project Lifesaver to the department.

Project Lifesaver is a program specifically targeted to those who wander because of health issues such as dementia or Alzheimer's or other cognitive impairments such as Autism.

Sgt. Mullinax explained that once an application is filed and a person is accepted into the program, a representative of the Sheriff's Office will make a house call and interview the family. At that time, a tracking bracelet is placed on the wrist or ankle of the "client."

Sgt. Mullinax also stated that the signal range fromboth the transmitter and the receiver are a mile each, which means that if a child with Autistim who has wandering tendencies gets within two miles from home, the receiver can pick up the signal. If no signal is picked up, the search is extended for a mile, and if it is then still not picked up it would be extended another mile. If, after that there is no signal from the transmitter, the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office would call in local contacts for air search. Once the receiver is placed on a helicopter, it can pick up the signal from the transmitter from6-plusmiles. If notified the minute a child is missing, with the help of Project Lifesaver, a child can be found within 30 minutes or less.

“The key is to notify the Sheriff's Office immediately. Don't wait 10 minutes, 20 minutes or more. Call us immediately," said Sgt. Mullinax.

If you would like more information about this program, contact Sheriff Mueller or Sgt. Mullinax at the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office; Marilyn Winright at William's Garden, 864-812-7557; or Linda Simmons at the Gaffney Elks Lodge.

February's meeting will be held at New Harvest Church of God, 120 Boiling

Springs Hwy. Speaker will be Dr. Victoria Naumann from Brain Balance Achievement Center of Greenville. A free workshop on nutrition will be held at the Brain Balance Center, 2531 Woodruff Road, Simpsonville, on Thursday, Feb. 9, at 6:30 p.m. For more information, call 864-329-9933 or visit thewebsite atwww.brainbalancecenters.com.