On October 27th Rainbow Days partnered with Brookhaven College Service Learning Center dedicating a day of promoting team efforts and good sportsmanship.  Children, youth and teens from Dallas Life Foundation and Nexus Recover Center participated in several team building activities while discussing the significance of team encouragement and support of each other.  Brookhaven students not only served as mentors but also shared about their experiences attending a community college and the importance of education.  Make a Difference Day continued when members of the "Lady Bears" Volleyball team came in to talk to the youth about the significance of the game they were playing that day and how great their support made them feel. The Brookhaven student volunteers and youth guest worked together to create and customize spirit rally posters to support the "Lady Bears" journey to becoming National NJCAA Division III Champs.  The youth cheered at the game and were able to witness the results of team spirit when the Lady Bear's won the Championship.  Team building, setting goals, team spirit and encouragement are all life lessons that the children can carry with them as they even learned that team support can make a difference in a day. A big "Thank-you to Andrew Deibert and John Umeojiako  who helped organize the event.

Recently Rainbow Days was the recipient of new children's books from "First book Marketplace" an online bookstore offering community programs that serve low-income families, high quality children's books.  The grant was submitted by four passionate University Interns from KPMG.  The Interns called themselves the "KPMG Reading Rangers."  This past summer they spent the entire day reading and discussing the book, "If You Made a Million" by David M. Schwartz.  At the conclusion of each reading session the children drew pictures from their ideas of what they would do with a Million dollars and posted them on a board for their classmates to see.  This activity created quite a memorable day and valuable lessons the children can carry with them for a lifetime.    Thank you KPMG Reading Rangers for allowing your kindness to flow beyond our summer months.  The grant will help purchase books for our Saturday with Santa event on December 1st.  Thank you "First Book Marketplace" for enriching children's lives!

Rainbow Days kicked-off its new affinity group, The Auxiliary of Rainbow Days,

Our sincere and humble appreciation and gratitude to Prince of Peach Catholic Outreach Committee for your tremendously generous monthly financial commitment and your continued support of the homeless families and children served by Rainbow Days, Inc.

A special thank you to Turbine Engine Resources, a redistributor of new and used aircraft engines and parts to maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities, airlines, leasing companies and other aviation entities, for graciously underwriting the cost of 350 Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory books, which will be handed out to homeless children at Rainbow Days annual Saturday with Santa event. 

The Community Connection team helped 17 elementary, middle, and high schools in Dallas, Duncanville, Rockwall, Grand Prairie and Irving ISDs celebrate Red Ribbon Week by educating 6,302 students, parents, and school personnel on the dangers of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs through 159 presentations. Statistics on substance abuse show that lifetime alcohol abuse is greatest for youth who begin drinking at the age of 14 and 90% of adult smokers started when they were kids. Statistics like these speak to the value of prevention education.