Dec. 7, 2007 — With tears in her eyes, first lady Cecile deJongh Friday told Rotary Club of St. John members about her pride that her learning-disabled son, J.P., is maintaining an A average at American University.
"Don't give up," she said.
Nearly three dozen Rotary members and guests turned out for the weekly luncheon meeting at the Westin Resort and Villas Beach Café to hear deJongh encourage them to get involved with her favorite causes.
Her son was diagnosed with attention-deficit disorder (ADD) when he was three and a half. As deJongh started to speak about forming support groups on St. Thomas and St. Croix for parents in similar situations, the tears started to flow.
This prompted Linda Arýe, a visiting Rotarian from Langhorne, Penn., to speak out about her learning-disabled child.
"My child went to seven schools in 12 years," Arýe said, explaining how she had to fight to get services.
Regaining her composure, deJongh said she'd like to start a support group for parents of learning-disabled children on St. John.
The first lady asked the Rotary Club members to explore the possibility of starting a Habitat for Humanity project on St. John. However, she acknowledged that affordable real estate would be hard to come by. On St. Thomas, she and her husband, Gov. John deJongh Jr., donated her grandmother's house as a Habitat for Humanity project.
Her grandmother was a single mother, so it was fitting that the house was going to another single mother, deJongh said. The 1,400-square-foot house is valued at $187,000, but after sweat equity by the recipient family and donations, the interest-free mortgage will run only $40,000, she said.
DeJongh also spoke about Special Olympics, another project she asked the Rotary Club members to tackle in various ways. For starters, she asked them to come out to Special Olympics events, because they are poorly attended. While events are held on St. Thomas and St. Croix, she'd like to get a similar event started on St. John.
"What you can do as Rotarians is volunteer," she said.
Huge rewards come with working with the Special Olympics children, deJongh said.
"When you tell them they are doing a great job, it makes their day," she said.
The first lady said she'd also like to organize a Camp Shriver on St. John for disabled children. Started by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the camps help those children learn new sports skills, as well as attending to health needs. Since these children don't get picked for teams, the goal is to help them learn individual sports like swimming that boost their self-esteem.
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