DAVIDSON, N.C. -- A unique day care is facing a not-so-unique problem. After 40 years of business, they could have to shut down soon because of the economy.
The Davidson Cornelius Day Care Center is in jeopardy of closing and leaving dozens of toddlers to find a new place to play.
"What is Spot going to do?" asks Miss Terry during reading time in her class. Her 2-year-olds are anxious to answer. "He's going to be a mess," they shout.
It's kind of like the situation their day care is in.
"We are at a critical point," said Eileen Keeley, who serves on the board of directors and is also a parent of one of the kids at the Davidson-Cornelius Day Care Center, which is in jeopardy of closing.
"It would be a travesty if this place shuts down," Sarah Demarest told NewsChannel 36.
Her daughter Maddie is 2 years old and has been here since she was 18 months old.
The Davidson-Cornelius Day Care Center is not your ordinary day care. Mary Dubose has been teaching here 28 years. The average teacher has been here 15 years.
There's a reason.
The community built the day care on a simple idea -- 2-year-olds are colorblind.
"The idea behind it is that children who were privileged as well as children who were underprivileged -- no matter their background, no matter their race -- could come together," Keeley said.
It's worked for 40 years with those parents who could, paying full tuition. Those who can't pay get help from the state.
But this year that help was cut by 90 percent, while the number of parents needing help went up.
Keeley says the reason is painfully obvious.
"The economy and the loss in jobs," she said. "The other option for us was to put these kids out on the street and we didn't feel like that was what the mission of the day care was all about."
So instead, the day care has gone back to the community that helped build it, asking for money.
Some money has come in from churches and civic groups -- even an 8-year-old boy who stopped by the center Thursday morning with a bunch of change he'd collected from his neighborhood. It amounted to $101.
Keeley says they need every penny.