Today, I spoke at Longwood Junior High School, sharing the story of my son Rees and the mission we’ve embarked upon to spread kindness and compassion. After the assembly, a young man named Steven approached me and thanked me for coming to his school and sharing our story again. His words touched me, but I belatedly realized he said “again.” I must have looked puzzled; this was my first time speaking there. Before I could say anything, he said something that took me aback: “I remember when you came to my elementary school. I never forgot your story. Thank you for sharing the whole story today. I just wanted you to know that it’s made a difference in my life. Thank you, Mr. Specht. I’ll never forget Rees and your message. I can’t wait to get more cards.”
 
Those words hit me hard. You see, as much as I believe
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Our 2022 Toy Drive is Officially on!

We have over 40 dropoff locations throughout Long Island – but if you can’t make it to one of our locations, click on this link to send us a Toy Directly through Amazon. Even better, make sure to add ReesSpecht Life as your charity on Amazon, and every toy you donate will earn us a little extra in donations through Amazon Smile. Go to Smile.Amazon.com for more info on how to do that and be sure to add ReesSpecht Life as your charity of choice.

Below is the list of our 2022 Public Dropoff Locations:

  • All Saf-T-Swim Locations
  • B.E.A.S.T. in Huntington
  • Jazzercise in Nesconset
  • All Smithtown Library Locations
  • Adelberg Montalvan Pediatric Dental (All Locations)
  • Tuscany Gourment Market in Miller Place
  • Marinelli’s Pizza in Sound Beach
  • Dance N’ Things in Smithtown
  • DL Barn and DL Pasture in Northport
  • Best Learning Center
  • Long Island Museum
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While there are lots of great perks available in our crowdfunding campaign to get “A Little Rees Specht Stops a Bully ” published, our favorites, by far, are the “You are a character” and “Get Animated!” Perks. These perks let you put your child (or yourself!) in our next book or our upcoming animated pilot as one of the characters!

This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will only be available through our crowdfunding campaign until November 29th.

Our talented book illustrator Adam or our amazing 3d animator, Chris, will create a cartoon version of you that will live on in our books and animation forever.

This perk was one of the most sought-after perks from our first campaign for “A Little Rees Specht Cultivates Kindness.” The characters of Emma and Alexandra, who will be in the new book, came from our first fundraiser! 

If you would like to claim either (or both!) of … Read More

For a limited time – and only through our website, we are offering a special perk in our crowdfunding campaign to raise the funds to bring our newest book to life. 

Click the link below to get a signed copy of the book (with a custom message of your choice from author Rich Specht), 20 Pay it Forward Cards, 1 Car Magnet, AND 1 entry into a drawing to win an Oculus Quest 2 (128 MB) and Link Cable

We are limiting the number of spots to 33, so it is first come, first served. As soon as all spots are taken, we will do a LIVE drawing on our Facebook page (facebook.com/reesspechtlife).

Click HERE to get access to this secret perk.

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The time is here! We are thrilled to announce that our crowdfunding campaign to illustrate and print the sequel to “A Little Rees Specht Cultivates Kindness” is now live! We have 33 days from the date of this post to raise $20,000 to cover all the expenses to self-publish and distribute the book. If we don’t raise the funds in that time, we will be unable to make the book.

Failure is not an option. We are confident that the support of all of Rees’ pieces will make this campaign just as successful as the one we did to create the first book.

Contributing is simple:

  • Click on this link HERE
  • Choose a perk (This is where you can get your book – or just make a donation!)
  • Checkout

It’s that simple! If we hit our funding goal by November 29th, 2022, the book will go into production and should … Read More

Anyone who knows me or follows us closely knows what the NY Mets mean to me. Rees’ nursery was literally decked from top to bottom in orange and blue and Mets memorabilia. From the moment my girls could speak some of their first words were “Let’s go Mets”. It’s a known fact that I live and die (mostly die…) with the Mets.
 
It wasn’t always this way though. After Rees’ passing, I found that my love for so many things faded and seemed pointless – my Mets included. I lost interest in just about everything and found it difficult to get excited about anything. The grief of child loss is like an anchor that continually pulls you down. In time you just get used to it, and it feels like your whole existence is centered on managing grief’s pull. The problem is that when you focus so much on one
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