CGI Kids: Impacting Kids around the World

Writer / Joyce Long
Photographer / James Eichelman

Having a soft heart for children comes easily for Jaime and Jeremy Roscoe. With four of their own (Alyssa, 14; Luke, 12; Belle, 10; Blake, 9) plus all of Dr. Jeremy’s patients from his practice, Clown Pediatrics, they are consumed with children’s needs. Yet their love for kids extends far beyond Greenwood.

“When our kids were young, we kept saying that someday we’ll go on a mission trip,” says Jaime. For five years that was impossible because Jeremy worked solo, on-call 24/7. As his practice grew, Jeremy hired two nurse practitioners. Then in the summer of 2011, he hired Dr. Megan Ciaccio. By January 2012, Jeremy and Jaime were ready to visit Cambodia with Center for Global Impact (CGI), a faith-based organization fighting poverty through education, vocational training and business development. After returning, the Roscoes wanted to do more.

“We prayed for opportunities. Then God gives you more,” says Jaime. Travel kept the Roscoes busy in 2012. In February, Jeremy went to Haiti with a local group of medical professionals. During spring break, their family went to Nicaragua with the organization Hope Road. Jaime organized a group of local women for a November trip to Phnom Penh and Battambang, Cambodia, cities where CGI trains at-risk women to sew and cook. (See the August 2012 edition of Center Grove Community Newsletter_, *bit.ly/CGCNFairTrade*, for more on this program. You can find the article on the web here: atcentergrove.com/blog/global-impact/.)

Global Awareness
As a family, the Roscoes wanted to help impoverished children. “The main reason we started CGI Kids was to expose our own children to global needs,” says Jaime. Alyssa used her twelfth birthday to raise $350 to build a playground at the Enzo Tina Orphanage on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Blake collected soccer supplies while Luke assisted Samaritan’s Purse in filling Christmas shoeboxes. Belle used her funds to buy them school supplies.

Jeremy and Jaime also envisioned local involvement. “CGI Kids is two-fold. We have people there helping kids, but our goal is to raise awareness here by going into schools and churches,” says Jeremy. Southside Bible Church, where the Roscoes attend, designates their annual Vacation Bible School’s mission to raise funds for kids in Cambodia. Last year Fountaintown Christian Church’s VBS raised money to buy mandatory uniforms so that Cambodian kids could attend a village school. Other VBS programs have raised monies to purchase water filters for families.

Schools have also been significant in sharing CGI Kids’ goal of local students understanding how children worldwide live. Jeremy and Jaime often give presentations in local classrooms, including Mrs. Susan Lukich’s third grade class at Westwood Elementary School and Sheri Hamm’s class at Indian Creek Elementary School.

Empower 5K & CGI Kids’ Games
Since 2012, the Roscoes have organized CGI’s annual Empower 5K at Eagle Creek Park, adding CGI Kids activities to encourage family participation. They recruited volunteers like Greenwood residents Tad and Kimberly Frahm. Kimberly met Jaime when her oldest son Brady was in Belle Roscoe’s third grade class at Westwood Elementary.

“I had read about Jaime’s upcoming women’s trip to Cambodia on her blog and invited her over to hear more,” says Kimberly. She quickly caught the vision of CGI Kids and decided to help the Roscoes by organizing CGI’s Empower 5K’s activities for kids. “That is how I can help here. Not everyone can go overseas.” Kimberly asked for help from her husband Tad, a Greenwood Community High School art teacher, who recruited his students to do the face painting during CGI’s annual Empower 5K. This year’s CGI Empower 5K, September 21 at Eagle Creek Park, will again feature a variety of children’s activities including face painting and balloon animals.

The Frahms value CGI Kids’ vision that encourages kids to help others both globally and locally. “The next step is getting my own kids involved, like volunteering in the community or sacrificing on Saturday to live as the impoverished. To try to go a day without electricity speaks volumes to kids,” says Kimberly.

Local Activities
Greenwood residents James and Sarah Brenton, along with their four children, have joined the Roscoes by participating in many CGI Kids activities. Jaime and Sarah first met each other at Center Grove High School where they graduated in 1994 and later worked as dental hygienists in Dr. Joel Rifkind’s practice. Their daughters Olivia and Belle are good friends and attend Westwood Elementary. Sarah laughs and says, “We are completely intertwined. My mother even works as Dr. Roscoe’s nurse.”

Like the Frahms, the Brentons regularly check centerforglobalimpact.org for CGI Kids activities, the most recent being Gardening for the Green Mango, a CGI culinary training restaurant in Cambodia. Through the CGI Kids newsletter, families were encouraged to pick up tomato plants at the CGI office, 2650 Fairview Place. In July, CGI Kids will sell produce at the Greenwood Farmers Market, raising funds for the Culinary Training Center. “What we’re finding is that we need to equip families with materials needed and make it easy for them to do the activities at their own convenience,” says Jaime.

CGI Kids also collaborates with local missions, such as Kids Against Hunger, the Boaz Project, and various food banks. “Our kids were greatly impacted by packing food for the homeless at the Midwest Food Bank,” says Sarah. Other meaningful activities have included Sacrifice Saturdays, when children are encouraged to give up something they have, such as toys, beds and TV, because many kids in the world don’t have them.

Kien Svay Kids
Last fall, Southside Bible Church helped launch a new sponsorship opportunity for CGI Kids, which focuses on helping students in Kien Svay, Cambodia. Fifteen students, ages 11-15 years old, participate in this weekly program administered by CGI’s social worker, Sreyleak. Often these children come from families who need food and bicycles along with school supplies.

“We want people to sponsor things that are needed: backpacks, water filters and food, rather than sponsoring specific children. Sreyleak weekly completes a home visit for each student. We’re still developing the program, and we’re letting Sreyleak tell us what needs to be done,” says Jeremy. Three hundred dollars pays for each student’s participation for the school year, which includes tutoring, helping families with basic needs, purchasing water filters and teaching kids about Jesus. Jeremy adds, “We want the gifts to be more personal. We deliver the gifts, take pictures and then share the experiences with those who’ve donated.”

To become involved with CGI Kids, contact Jaime Roscoe at Jaime@centerforglobalimpact.org.

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