December 14, 2012, was the darkest day of Michele Gay’s life. As the nation paused, transfixed by the slow trickle of news that a deranged young man had burst into a Connecticut elementary school and killed 20 children and six adults, Gay, a Columbia native, waited, too, for information on two of her daughters, both students at Sandy Hook Elementary.
Josephine “Joey” Gay, pictured at left, a loving, smiley and cuddly 6-yearold in first grade, was one of the victims of the massacre, but her mother is determined not to let her daughter’s death define the little girl’s life. “That was a few moments of her life, but she was about so much more than that,” says Gay, who grew up in Columbia. “She was generous and kind and an incredible gift to us and the world — that’s what we want to be able to focus on.” Gay and her husband, Bob, a Towson native, have turned to their Maryland family and friends to help them honor their daughter.
With donations from their respective hometowns and other parts of the nation, they established “Joey’s Fund,” as part of the Doug Flutie, Jr., Foundation that supports children with autism. The fund, says Gay, encourages families with autistic children “to apply for grants for anything that improves the quality of their child’s life.” Joey’s Fund can help pay for things that aren’t provided by the school district or covered by insurance – like horse therapy or a special diet, she says.
Communities in Maryland have pitched in to help honor Joey, who, along with her parents, had deep ties to the area. All three of Gay’s children — Sophia, 11, Marie, 9, and Joey — were born at Howard County General Hospital and Gay was a teacher at Clemens Crossing and Hollifield Station elementary schools before the family moved to Connecticut a few years ago. “I’m in awe of how everyone has lifted us up and helped us move on, in our home state and across the country,” Gay says.
Donations can be made to Joey’s Fund online: dougflutiejrfoundation.org/Donate-Joeys-Fund.asp
