Childhood League and the Merry Go Round
The Childhood League Center is a small preschool near the Columbus Children's Hospital that specializes in serving at-risk children and their families, where that definition includes children with physical and developmental disabilities and those who are eligible for Head Start due to low income or other family situations. ("Peer models" - typically developing children - also attend.)
Tuition and therapy at the school are free; all expenses are provided by private donations and the efforts of the Childhood League. Their largest single fundraising event is the annual Merry Go Round, a dinner, variety show and auction. This year's event (May 2011) set a record.
My wife and I have a close relationship with the loving people at the center because two of our girls went there, and because we were asked to speak at the Merry Go Round this year. But there is a Buckeye connection too: Professor Tony Rucci has consulted pro-bono with the League to help restructure the organization for growth, and uses examples from that engagement in his classes.
The current school only has space for about 400 students, whereas there are an estimated 500 to 700 additional students in the area who need the special services that the Center provides. They are working to grow to satisfy some of this demand.
The Childhood League Center is a special and unique place in Columbus that needs and deserves our support. Congratulations to them on another successful Merry Go Round.