Simsbury-Granby Rotary Strengthens Breakfast Program

The Simsbury-Granby Rotary Club is providing much-needed support to FOCUS Center for Autism. They are going above and beyond the call of duty to aid FOCUS Center for Autism’s Breakfast Program; a daily event in FOCUS’s Extended Day Treatment Program that serves a critical purpose. Numerous studies have linked nutrition to a child’s comprehensive success. If they do not receive proper nutrition, they can be impacted cognitively, academically and socially. The Breakfast Program at FOCUS alleviates these concerns and provides opportunities for social learning. Run in a restaurant-style fashion, the children take menu orders, set tables, serve breakfast, and clean up; giving them essential Activities of Daily Living and social skills that will help them in the future. According to Carol Doiron, Director of Educational Services, the Breakfast Program allows for social interactions to be more spontaneous and the transition between home and the Extended Day Treatment Program to be more fluid. Because socialization is part of the breakfast routine, the program was able to eliminate the need for a “Morning Meeting” each day. The transition time needed between arrival and daily activities is part of the Breakfast Program. Now, once the children have eaten breakfast they are ready to begin their day!

The Simsbury-Granby Rotary Club donated their February and March proceeds to the Breakfast Program; a total of $900. These funds will provide nearly a month’s worth of nutritious breakfast items to the eighteen children served by the Breakfast Program.

The Simsbury-Granby Rotary Club also supported FOCUS during the winter of 2013. They assisted Eagle Scout Alexander Boon van Ostade in completing renovations to FOCUS’s “Lego Room” for his Eagle Scout project: an effort that allows the children at FOCUS to have a beautiful, calm, and organized space to play.

FOCUS is very appreciative of the Simsbury-Granby Rotary’s generosity, and thanks them for their continued support.

The Simsbury-Granby Rotary is an active, growing club with a strong legacy of community service, dedicated to “Service Above Self”. They originated a scholarship grant program in 1958 and since that time have awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships to seniors in both Simsbury and Granby High Schools. Their Rotary River Run in Simsbury continues to grow towards one thousand runners. Their major fundraisers are their annual summer Golf outing and their autumn Harvest Wine Tasting. For more information, visit their website.

FOCUS Center for Autism is a grassroots, community-based nonprofit whose mission is helping children and young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders achieve their full potential. Since becoming a nonprofit in 2000, FOCUS has developed into a well respected community-based model of treatment that has now served over 600 children and families.