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May 20, 2008 5:08 pm US/Mountain
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Fire Prompts Day Care Pay It 4ward
Written for the Web by CBS4 producer Libby Smith
The idea behind CBS4's Pay it Forward Colorado project is to give $1,000 to a Coloradan (or group of Coloradans) who will use the money to change someone else's life. Submit your ideas
on YouReport
.
MAY 20 UPDATE ... After CBS4's Pay It Forward story about the day care displaced by fire (full story below), we've had an overwhelming response of people who would also like to pay it forward to Little Saints Day Care.
Steve Myers came forward with an offer of warehouse space at 46th and Quebec. Day care director Leah Gilmer will have to see if the space will pass day care licensing regulations.
An Arvada day care operator is offering to take in some of the displaced children and hire some of the teachers until Little Saints can get back on its feet.
And a single mother in Golden wants to bring in new toys and books for the day care when it reopens.
If you would like to help Leah Gilmer to reestablish Little Saints Day Care, give her a call at (303) 322-9446.
Below lies CBS4's May 19 report about Little Saints Day Care.
DENVER (CBS4) - In the early morning hours of Sunday, fire raged through the Holly Square Shopping Center in East Denver. The Little Saints Day Care was among five businesses damaged in the fire and that left the parents of 45 children scrambling for day care Monday.
"I didn't want anyone to miss work today at all," said center director, Leah Gilmer.
Gilmer used her car as an office; her front seat as a file cabinet. She parked outside the burned out center and called the families of all the children she cares for to make sure proper arrangements were made.
"I had inquired at some of the surrounding day care centers and some of the centers had agreed to take our children," Gilmer said.
Little Saints Day Care serves families who are low income, single parent and can't afford day care elsewhere. Little Saints is a non-profit organization that receives government funding to help keep fees low for their families.
"This is a rough time. It's a devastating time," Gilmer said.
Gilmer is concerned about one mother in particular. Mary Tillman has five children; two of them attend Little Saints and she works at the center. So not only is the mother out her low cost day care, she's out a job. But that was not on the top of her mind.
"Just think if we would have been there," Tillman said. "I'm so glad we weren't there, the children weren't there."
Monday, she was at home playing with her youngest and now she has part of $1,000 that will help her bridge the gap until Gilmer can get the day care back up and running.
Tillman is one of three people to whom Gilmer is paying it forward.
Gilmer is already working on finding a new home for the center. She hopes someone else will pay it forward with a building or office space that they can use to take care of the kids.
(© MMVIII CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)