Rainbow Connection grants children's wishes
Often compared to the Make a Wish Foundation, the Rainbow Connection is dedicated to raising money and granting wishes for children with terminal or life-threatening illnesses. But this RSO has one important difference: They exclusively help children in Michigan.
“Even if it’s just one kid, we feel like we’ve made a difference,” said Grand Ledge senior Kelly Gwardzinski.
Gwardzinski, founder and president of the RSO, said she is passionate about helping kids. She also wants to help people with disabilities and kids with life-threatening illnesses.
“Seeing this side of it, instead of always the physical side—it’s kind of what drives me to do it,” she said.
The Rainbow Connection hosts several fundraisers over the course of the school year, including the sale of hair-bows for $5 during the football season. Students can buy them every Wednesday in the Bovee University Center before a home game or order them through Facebook.
Thanks to fundraisers like this one, the Rainbow Connection raises enough money each year to co-sponsor a wish with its parent organization in Rochester. However, students in this organization want to do even more.
“We would love to be able to completely sponsor somebody,” said Muskegon junior Emily Vanderlaan.
Lindsay Dymond, a senior from Livonia, said it takes $5,000 to sponsor a child’s wish.
“We are just kind of a new organization and its ambitious to raise that much money, so we’re trying to at least co-sponsor,” she said.
Last year the Rainbow Connection co-sponsored a child named William, who went to a resort in Florida called Give the Kids the World. They will not know the name of the child they are sponsoring this year until all of the proceeds from this school-year’s fundraisers go to the original Rainbow Connection in Rochester, their co-sponsor.
Aside from fundraising, the Rainbow Connection also educates students about childhood illnesses and writes birthday cards every month for seriously ill children.
“It’s a really cool way to kind of feel closer to them,” said Dymond.
Students interested in joining the Rainbow Connection can contact their Facebook page, or stop by the next meeting at 8 p.m. Oct. 6th in the Lakeshore Room of the Bovee University Center.
