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Stamford Fire Father Wants Kids Remembered With Donations To Dyslexia Fund

STAMFORD, Conn. (CBSNewYork) - The father of the children killed in the Christmas day fire in Stamford a year ago today has shared his reflections and how he wants them remembered.

WCBS 880's Fran Schneidau On The Story

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The fire killed 7-year-old twins Grace and Sarah Badger, 9-year-old Lily Badger, and their grandparents Lomer and Pauline Johnson.

Struggling through the year without his three young children, Matthew Badger has devoted his energy to the fund he established in memory of his girls.

In an interview with WCBS 880 Newsradio 880 Connecticut Bureau Chief Fran Schneidau, he said he likes to focus on his memories of his daughters, not the loss of them.

"I was so lucky to have such fantastic kids. They were just the most beautiful children, and I have so much gratitude of having had them for the time that I had them. They gave me so much joy," he said.

LINK: Lily Sarah Grace Fund

These days, Badger says he gets joy providing dyslexic school children with the tools they need to learn, 7-year-old Grace had dyslexia.

Teaching through art is the key, he says, and in just one year, his fund, the Lily Sarah Grace Fund, has raised enough to provide education grants to 80,000 children in schools in all fifty states.

"What I have noticed in each of these clasrooms and what I have witnessed, just being feeling so healing for me. I'm just in love with this fund and I'm in love with what I'm doing right now. It really helps me feel okay cause I get all this love from these kids," he said.

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