A 16-year-old autistic Summit Hill boy, and die-hard Philadelphia Eagles’ fan, is bringing the 2025 Philadelphia Eagles Autism Challenge to the area.

Caleb Gottschall, a sophomore at Panther Valley High School, is in the midst of raising funds to help the Super Bowl champions’ foundation that has a mission of “raising awareness of autism and providing funding to support the highest quality of and most impactful autism research and care to improve the lives of affected individuals and families.”

The son of John Shemansik and Tayler Shemansik of Summit Hill, Caleb has solicited the help of Alfie Picone of La Dolca Casa in Tamaqua, as part of his fundraising efforts. The restaurant will return a percentage of all funds taken in on April 24 to Caleb and the Eagles’ foundation.

According to Caleb’s father, the boy “became inspired to help raise funds” for the program, most especially after attending the Eagles’ annual event held last year at Lincoln Financial Field.

“I wanted to do it,” Caleb stressed, “because it (funds raised) will help people who have autism.”

“It feels great to see this (the boys’ effort),” said Picone. “We’re honored to be a part of it; hopefully we’ll raise a lot of money.”

In addition to the restaurant benefit, Caleb has solicited gifts from the Eagles to be awarded at a drawing that night. They include an autographed Jordan Mailata replica jersey, an autographed Jeremiah Trotter Jr. football and an autographed Landon Dickerson mini helmet. La Dolce Casa has added a gift certificate as a prize as well.

“He (Caleb) has been wanting to do this for about six months now,” said John Shemansik, an Eagles season ticket holder. “We didn’t encourage him; he encouraged us and so we contacted the Eagles to ask if we could be a part of their efforts.”

Caleb plans to attend the seventh Annual Eagles Autism Challenge, where, he said, “it’s great” to interact with the players and to share initiatives with others who participate in the events that include walks, runs, bike rides and other activities. He attended last year’s event, as well as autism fundraisers of others helping to raise funds for the program, and noted, “It was a lot of fun.” The Eagles’ event is scheduled for May 17 at “The Link.”

Meanwhile, he’s hoping the enthusiasm still fresh in people’s minds over the Birds’ 40-22 Super Bowl LIX world championship win over the Kansas City Chiefs will help trigger the same energy towards the fight against autism.

“We love the Eagles,” he offered.

Asked how he became an Eagles’ fan, Caleb quickly replied, “My dad made me.”

Caleb and his family will also be accepting online donations to the autism fund. Persons interested in helping the cause should check the Facebook account of S & O Computers, Summit Hill, owned by John Shemansik, where its details will be announced in the near future.