KENNY ROGERS SET TO VISIT KENNY ROGERS CHILDREN’S CENTER AND HOST BENEFIT CONCERT ON JUNE 1st
KENNY ROGERS CHILDREN’S CENTER SUPPORTS CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS FOR CLOSE TO 40 YEARS
SIKESTON,
MO. (May 27, 2014) – Not very many performers can say they’ve been in
the “business” for over 50 years. Not many can say they’ve played an
instrumental role in the success of an organization that solely exists
for the purpose of helping children with special needs. Not many can
say they’ve returned five times throughout the years to hold concerts
and continue to raise money for that organization. And certainly not
many can say they’ve held an interest in that same organization for
close to 40 years! But yes, Kenny Rogers has certainly earned his name
on the building of that very organization…The Kenny Rogers Children’s
Center in Sikeston, Missouri.
“It’s scary to think about where the Center would be today if it
weren’t for Kenny Rogers. Or rather, where the Center would NOT be
today”, states Michelle Fayette, Executive Director of the Center. “The
current building we are in today was made possible through Kenny’s
efforts, the expansions, new equipment, updated equipment, and so much
more, all are because he has cared enough throughout the years to
continue his efforts in furthering our mission. You definitely can’t
make old friends like that! Thousands of children have come through
these doors and have received life-changing therapies all because of
him,” she adds. The Center covers numerous counties in Southeast
Missouri and provides therapy to approximately 450 children on a monthly
basis.”
On June 1, Kenny Rogers will take the stage for another benefit
concert in Sikeston, Missouri to once again raise money for the Kenny
Rogers Children’s Center.
After his last benefit concert in 2009, the Center added a
7,000-square-foot expansion that was completed in 2011. It includes an
indoor, all handicap accessible therapeutic play structure, several
additional therapy rooms, a conference room, a therapy restroom, a rock
wall, a zip line and what is now the newly completed KRCC Center for
Gait and Motion Analysis Lab.
“It’s hard to remember just how cramped we were before this because
we’ve gotten accustomed to the new space now,” says Brandy Dallas,
Clinical Coordinator and Physical Therapist at the Center. “We were
able to increase our therapy staff by adding six and were able to move
more children off the waiting lists,” she added. The Center currently
has a total of 26 employees – six office personnel, 13 Occupational
Therapists, two Physical Therapists, two Physical Therapy Assistants and
three Speech Therapists. “That’s a far cry from the original
Scott-Mississippi-New Madrid Counties United Cerebral Palsy Center that
opened its doors with five clients, one paid employee, two foster
grandparents and several other volunteers,” states Fayette.
The Center continues to provide therapy services at no charge to the
families, as they have for over 40 years now. “We are very proud to
have this state-of-the-art facility in Southeast Missouri. It truly is a
one-of-a-kind facility where children receive not only the therapy that
they need, but receive some of the highest quality in the nation,”
states Charlotte York, President of the Board for the Kenny Rogers
Children’s Center. “The fact that Kenny Rogers is still involved with
the Center shows how passionate he is about our mission and what the
Center is doing. We are so blessed to have his continued support and
can’t wait to see him at the upcoming concert,” she adds.
The benefit concert is June 1, 2014 at 7:00 pm at the Sikeston Field House in Sikeston, Missouri. Tickets are available at www.kennyrogerscenter.org, or by phone at 877-471-0397.