Each year, the First United Presbyterian Church in Sodus hosts their annual Christmas light show in December to raise money for a cause in their community. In 2018, the church honored Roosevelt Children's Center (RCC) by donating all the proceeds to our preschool in memory of Kasey DeMarree, a former RCC student who passed away suddenly in January 2016.

About 700 community members attended the lights and music show that parishioner, Jim Hopkins, organized.The event raised more than $1,800 for RCC, and a check was presented last Sunday to RCC by Reverend Gail Heimberger, event organizer, Jim Hopkins, and Kelly DeMarree, Kasey's mother.

At the dedication, Reverend Heimberger presented the following prayer: 

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good. His love endures forever. Every good and perfect gift is from above. This day we give thanks for the gift of Kasey DeMarree, for the joy he brought us, for the laughter and for the love he showed us. We are also grateful for the love shown him by Roosevelt School and their dedication to him. We give thanks to Jim Hopkins and his wonderful light show, his sharing of his gifts and also the sharing of the funds it raised. Today we dedicate those gifts to the Roosevelt school in memory and in love of Kasey DeMarree and may these gifts be used to enhance the lives of other children. May these gifts be blessings to both the school and the students. May the love of Kasey continue to shine through us all. Amen. 

Kasey truly did have a smile that could light up a room. "It was so evident that Kasey was loved at home," Kasey's speech pathologist, Annalise Parker, said. "He was loved at school, and he just had the brightest smile of any kid." 

Annalise was just one of the many RCC staff members that Kasey had a positive, lasting impact on. "It's not often that we have to say goodbye to our students like that," she said, "but it stays with us for life when we do. They're like family to us. Kasey definitely taught us more than we taught him."

Students at Roosevelt Children's Center had a surprise visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus this week. The visit was complete with presents, a candy cane, and a chance to talk to Santa for each child. 

We hope everyone has a merry Christmas!

Join us today as we ROC the Day for Roosevelt Children's Center! In this 24-hour online fundraiser, you can make a difference in the lives of children at RCC. So far, we have raised more than $800, and we are hoping to increase that to at least $1,000. Thank you to all of our supporters and to everyone who believes in our mission of helping all children both with and without developmental and intellectual disabilities from ages birth to five. 

Visit www.roctheday.org/rooseveltchildrenscenter to donate and show your support! Check out the video below to learn more.

Mitchell was trying to be silly when he got his picture taken, but we got a little smile out of him! Share a smile with someone on this great Monday!

Happy Monday from Michael!

Happy Monday, everyone! Today is the first day of our new Story and a Smile campaign for Roosevelt Children's Center, and we just wanted to give you an overview of the project. For the next few weeks, we will be posting a photo of a smiling RCC student to brighten everyone's day. Please feel free to visit our Facebook page, and share the posts.

The goal of this campaign is to increase the number of smiles we see in the world. And what better way to share a smile than sharing one of a happy kid? We hope you enjoy these photos and share a smile with our happy students. 

Roosevelt Children's Center hosted its annual fall festival for all of the children during school. It was a fun way to go outside and play with all of their friends in a safe and structured environment.

Activities included playing in hay, tractor rides and petting small farm animals. The weather ended up being perfect to enjoy all of the outdoor fun. 

Our annual Open House and Book Fair was a huge hit this year. Students were able to take their family and friends through school and show everyone their classrooms. The Scholastic Book Fair raised more than $1,000 in free books for the children of Roosevelt this year. Thank you to everyone who supported us!