While Jeff Demaray has no kids of his own in the program, he liked to help robotics teams and wanted to form a community team. This was the humble beginning of the Team VIRUS organization.
From a handful of students at the beginning, to an organization of 60+ students, Jeff’s vision for the VIRUS organization has always remained the same: a community organization for any students, regardless of school (or homeschool), run entirely by volunteers and always tuition free to ensure everyone could participate, and I’ve had the privilege of working with Jeff to fulfill that vision. Under Jeff’s leadership, the VIRUS organization has expanded to include students in every program from Pre-K to VEX-U, hosting regular events, Michigan State Championship events, and even adding the RiverBots Signature event. But Jeff has not just been the visionary; he’s been there to make it happen. He has invested huge amounts of time and money into the program, spending all his evenings and many weekends working events, both our own as well as “away” events, volunteering at VEX Worlds year after year, and still taking the time to bring underprivileged kids to robotics week after week.
On Memorial Day, 2023, we almost lost Jeff to a serious traffic accident. Doctors told us Jeff might not walk again, and because of his head injury‚ whatever recovery he would have in 12 months would be how he would spend the rest of his life. Well, Jeff would have nothing to do with a prognosis like that. With the same determination he had for advancing Robotics Education, he was set on recovering from his accident. Just 8 weeks after the accident, Jeff was able to venture out to a VEX event at the Monroe County Fair to see his friends and robotics kids, and 12 weeks after that, Jeff was back at a V5RC event walking on his own and volunteering as a Judge.
Jeff has been the inspiration for many people in the VIRUS organization to volunteer at local, state, and the world championship, and the whole VIRUS organization is looking forward to Jeff’s leadership to continue the mission of STEM Education for all kids.