Let me explain.  Robert Lanier Kim, “Lan” to his ‘kids’ and friends believes in doing something to help our societies young children, especially those who are lacking both parents on a regular basis.  He operates a 6 year old and up child care center out of his home in the Spotsylvania area.  You’re asking ok, so what is so special about that, right?  Well, this childcare center is for children who are underprivileged.  He keeps them on a tight schedule but does numerous things with them, many things new and exciting to them.  As he says, you’ll either like how he interacts with the kids or you won’t.

Here is a little background on Lan so you’re better able to understand his philosophies.  As he grew up he thought that being a police officer would be the thing for him but while working as a security officer doing repossession work he was shot at and decided that that wasn’t the life for him.  Kind of at a loss as to what to do next he arrived in the Fredericksburg area and has been here ever since working with children.  He started working for child care centers while trying to figure out what to be when he ‘grew up’ and decided caring for children was what he liked to do, just not for a child care center as they have more restrictions placed on them then he felt they should.

He has since started a licensed child care center in his home and has fought repeatedly with the schools and social services for parents and kids rights and won everyone’s admiration. Not in the so far distant past however, he regularly faced adversity from the same people who now use him as a teacher and role model. He endures regular social service visits to ensure that he is doing everything by the letter of the law, he always passes and then some.   He also teaches other parents how to deal with their children because he has been there and done that so to speak.

As far as the kids he cares for, he sees them as his own in a large sense of the word because he spends a lot of time with them, sometimes 14 or more hours per day.  He requires obedience and respect from them but he also gives them love and respect in return. 

When I visited him on our scheduled day he was in the middle of performing a magic show for the children who were there that day.  After he completed that, he sent them outside to play on the numerous items that were placed all about the fenced in back yard.  I found things that I use to play with as a child but hadn’t seen in a long time.  These kids were outside for about 2 hours with Lan’s ever-watchful eyes keeping track of what they were doing.  Did he run to ones defense whenever he saw a problem?  Absolutely not, he allows them to work it out on their own and mostly offers a reminder of ‘working things out on your own’ when they do approach him for help.  Something we know kids don’t get to do much of today because we’re all too eager to step in and offer them solutions to their problems.

He joyfully gave me a tour of his home, which actually looks like one large play center.  Each room is themed after something.  Yes, the kids watch TV and play video games but they are allotted only a certain amount of time to do so every day.  Do they watch many different types of movies?  Yes, because they watch them and figure out how they are done so that they might be able to recreate them when they film one of their own movies.  Do they get to play and just be kids?  Definitely!  They play outside for at least a total of 3 hours a day plus during the summer months they have many outdoor activities planned such as swimming and Kings Dominion (all done on a regular basis). 

How does he afford to do such things? Well, a lot of the money comes out of his own pocket.  Some businesses do know him extremely well so they give him whatever breaks they can.  But mostly he takes advantage of the free things that are available to do in life.  The kids go to the park as part of their regular day, every day. The River is a really great place for them to learn to swim and camping in the Shenandoah Valley is something else that they all enjoy doing.  One thing I must tell you, with all this outdoor activity, Lan is allergic to the sun.  Does he complain? I haven’t heard him do so and the kids learn that all people are different or react differently to certain things but the bottom line is that we’re all the same.

You might be thinking he likes kids big deal, so do I.  I’m not done yet.  On top of his childcare center that is open whenever the parents need to work, he also does fund raising to help children who are ill and need money for necessary medical expenses. 

He started his fundraising off when he was 15 with a girlfriend at a dance-a-thon but now he sticks to other things such as his trampoline or walking. Once a year he does a jump-a-thon on his trampoline to raise money for the chosen child.  He has also done numerous other things to help out sick children. Just recently he could be heard on the phone with B101.5 as he walked from his home to Washington DC to raise money for a little girl who needed it for medical expenses.

When asked why he does all of these things he just states that he found what he loves to do and believes totally in it.  It is obvious by the way the kids respond to him and the fact that they are eager to return.

Editors note: We are always looking for people to feature in our People of Fredericksburg section of SimplyFredericksburg. If you know someone that would make a great person to feature, please contact us here