This week marks one year since the passing of Stacey Carvey-Schoenhals. Her legacy at Rochester Middle School lives on.

At the end of 2023, Stacey's Closet was officially opened at RMS, providing all Rochester students with free clothing, shoes, hygiene items, and school supplies. Operated by teachers Valerie Good and Deanna VandenBossche during school hours, Stacey's husband, RMS Assistant Principal Lukas Schoenhals, said the space represents the giving heart his wife had towards students at Rochester Community School. 

In life, Carvey-Schoenhals' passion was to serve the school district. Serving as a Rochester Community School Board member she was heavily involved in the JAG program. Schoenhals said his wife was also an active volunteer at the school. 

Schoenhals said that he is confident that if his wife could see Stacey's Closet now, she would be proud. 

Stacey's Closet isn't the only thing that gives back to others in memory of Carvey-Schoenhals. Just months after Carvey-Schoenhals passing, her husband teamed up with mother-in-law Gloria Carvey, sister-in-law Lisa Reffett, RMS teacher Rebecca Bolinger, and RMS Principal Cassie Murphy, RMS fifth grade teacher Rebecca Bolinger, to create a memorial scholarship with the Northern Indiana Community Foundation. 

Donations for Stacey's Closet can be made by contacting the school. Those interested in making financial donations to the foundation can do so by sending checks to RMS, or reaching out to the Stacey Carvey-Schoenhals Foundation Facebook page.