Mount Kisco Child Care Center Benefit will Honor Jane Beusman

The Mount Kisco Child Care Center will hold a fundraiser to celebrate the establishment of the  Jane H. Beusman Children's Fund. The fund will help support scholarships to the center.

The late Jane Beusman became involved with the center in 2005, with her husband Curt Beusman of Mount Kisco, said Dorothy Jordan, the center's executive director. " This is in her memory. It is an opportunity for us to find a long-term solution to help with our tuition gap for those parents who cannot afford the full cost here," Jordan said. Beusman passed away  last year. Curt Beusman is on the board of the center.

The center is a day care and early education facility that was founded in 1971. "We care for children as young as three months of age all the way up to age 12," said Jordan. Children can attend infant and toddler care, pre-kindergarten, before- and after-school programs, and summer camp. The center's Feed Me Fresh program, a garden to table nutrition program, allows children to raise organic vegetables that they then eat.

The Jewel program allows senior citizens from My Second Home to interact with the children on a regular basis. My Second Home is next door to the center and is a nonresidential program for the elderly. Jewel was awarded a best practices awards by The Met Life Foundation and Generations United.

About 160 children use Mount Kisco Child Care Center and about half of them receive a scholarship of some sort, said Jordan. Thirty percent of the children come from families with a total income of below $35,000. The Jane F. Beusman Children's Fund is intended to help cover that tuition gap and also provide for teacher development and educational materials.

"Our mission is to represent the diversity of the community," she said. "Early education and child care are a necessity. They nurture our children and allow parents to work and support families."

The Jane F. Beusman Children's Fund Celebration will be held on June 17 at the Saw Mill Club on Kensico Drive. The event will start with cocktails at 6:30 p.m. and a buffet dinner by Abigail Kirsch at 7:30 p.m. The evening will include the raffle of a 2010 Lexus HS 250h hybrid.

Make reservations by June 10 by contacting Alexandra Gordevitch either at agla@mkccc.org or 914-241-2135 x243.