Year-end Celebration with Awards and Accolades
To cap off a meaningful and successful 50th year, Rainbows’ Annual Meeting was held on Tuesday, December 6 at Cozine Life Events Center and hosted by Board of Directors’ Chair Jim Walters. Jim shared the many milestones for the past year and several individuals were recognized and honored during the evening. Rainbows celebrated the following […]
Determined kid catches peers
Alex is a senior this year at Andover Central High School. He’s involved in soccer, bowling and mountain bike riding. His goal after high school is to go on to college and is interested in Physical Therapy. He loves spending time with his family and friends but is looking forward to going off to school. […]
Don’t Stop Dreaming
All parents have dreams for their children. When those dreams are disrupted by a diagnosis like Down Syndrome, it can be easy to stop dreaming—but Rainbows staff and organization is SO GOOD at saying: “Hey, don’t stop dreaming—just open your mind and dream a bit differently!” “Getting the Down Syndrome diagnosis AFTER birth was a […]
Honoring CJ Seitz
“From the moment he was born, CJ was a kind soul,” said Frank Seitz, CJ’s father. CJ was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, but no evidence of brain damage at the time of his birth. “We thought we had a perfectly normal child,” said Frank. When he was 4 months old, […]
Rainbows Changed Our Lives
“My whole journey started at Rainbows in 1978 when my husband, Walt and I adopted a little 5-day-old boy named Brandon,” said Margaret, Brandon’s mother. “He was just perfect.” As he grew, Margaret became concerned that Brandon was not progressing as quickly as other babies his age, and her sister noticed Brandon wasn’t following with […]
Letting Brayden Fail, With Love
Twenty-six-year-old Brayden is the biggest KU basketball fan you’ll ever meet. He is very sport-oriented, enjoys golfing with his dad and uncle and has played tournaments with them. This summer, Brayden and his mom, DeAnne attended Rainbows’ 50th Birthday celebration at the Wind Surge baseball game. Brayden has been part of the Rainbows’ family since […]
Fashion, Talent and Arts Shows, and Field Trips, Too
Camp Woodchuck’s 50th Birthday-themed summer camp wrapped up a successful summer serving 36 youth, ages 6-21 years old, in an In-Home camp experience. This summer, Rainbows’ Direct Support Professionals provided children each week with a variety of hands-on structured activities and took them out into the community for field trips and special activities. The youth […]
Campers Celebrate All Summer Long
Camp Woodchuck’s theme for summer of 2022 is a birthday party theme in celebration of Rainbow’s 50th Birthday! Camp Woodchuck began providing a fun, summer experience for children with special needs in 1997. This summer, 38 campers ranging in age from 6 to 18 years old will be treated to an in-home camp experience like […]
DiGiovanni Family Celebrates
“The path, the journey we’ve been on, it all started at one place -Rainbows.” As a 10-year-old volunteering with her mother at Blarney Breakfast, Gretchen DiGiovanni had no idea the impact Rainbows United would someday have on her family. Gretchen’s parents, Dick and Carol Rohloff, are long-time supporters of Rainbows. Gretchen continued to be a […]
Laura and Leo tell their story
It was 1988 and after 2 weeks in the NICU, Laura was sent home with her parents, Jane and Randy who were completely unprepared on how to help their daughter. Laura was born with cerebral palsy and visual impairment. When Laura was 5 months old, a friend told them they needed to call Rainbows. The […]
