RainbowsForKids.org

Rainbows for Kids has been going strong for 23 years since our first party in 1999 at Cardinal Glennon Childrens Hospital. We incorporated into a charity in January of 2000, and exist to help families of children with cancer as well as other families going through a tough time due to health concerns. We provide fun activities, support, and friendship. We also provide help in other ways on an individual basis. Rainbows for Kids serves patients from all pediatric hospitals in the Greater St. Louis Area.

 

• TO MAKE A DONATION:  https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=PRTCS7S2GRNDU

 

 

 

 

*The all-volunteer-run organization was started by a local St. Louis family with help from friends. No one has ever received a paycheck and Rainbows for Kids does not have an office to pay rent on so all them money we receive can go directly to our projects for the families.

 

* We started Rainbows for Kids 23 years ago when our family member six- year old Annie was diagnosed with a glio blastoma brain tumor.  At that first party, she didn’t want to be a “patient” she wanted to be a volunteer, and it is her spirit that has kept the flame alive with Rainbows for Kids all these years.

* How it started: One day when we were with Annie at the Costas Center at Cardinal Glennon we decided to have a party.  Sally Rains had experience in event planning and charity work. Rob Rains, her husband had just written a book so he contacted his publisher and they donated books for all the families and we asked Ozzie Smith and Bob Costas to come to the party, which they did The Rains’ sons, Mike and B.J. held a backyard carnival and raised money to put on that first party and the Rains, Tippett and Schiller family and their friends all worked on the event. Annie’s grandparents Margie and Jack Tippett and Ed and Marie Schiller were there as well as her sisters Joan (Schiller) Turner and Ruth Schiller and her parents Barbara Tippett and Bill Schiller. They all invited friends to help.

 

It was just a little party with cookie cakes donated by Lubeley’s Bakery and there were crafts and entertainment for the kids. It was so fun they decided to start a 501 (c)(3) charity.

 

“We sat around the dining room table with my family and my dad (Jack Tippett) came up with the name Rainbows for Kids and he made the first donation,” said Sally Tippett Rains, volunteer Executive Director for the charity.

 

*It has grown to where we help families from all 3 hospitals in St. Louis: Glennon, Childrens and Mercy Pediatrics, plus we have provided goodie bags for Ranken-Jordan Pediatric Hospital and The Ronald McDonald House..

 

*It is because of the Rains family sports connections, (Rob Rains is a baseball writer and author, and Sally previously worked in the Sports Department at KMOX Radio) and friendships that many celebrities have come out out to meet the kids at our events. Besides Ozzie Smith and Bob Costas, we’ve had broadcasters like Joe Buck, Ricky Horton, John Rooney and Brad Thompson; plus Cardinal players including Lars Nootbaar, Dylan Carlson, Matt Carpenter, Jason Motte, Trevor Rosenthal and many more. Several Cardinals managers including Mike Matheny, Mike Shildt, and Whitey Herzog have volunteered their time; they do it out of friendship and wanting to help the kids– and we appreciate the St. Louis Cardinals for all their support.

 

*We started an annual All-Star  “Baseball Team” because Annie was on a softball team, but due to her chemotherapy she was weak and had to sit on the bench the whole season she was sick.  We wanted every child to feel like the “belonged” to a “team” and decided to make it open to EVERYONE no matter how sick they are. It’s unique because we also have the kids’ siblings on the team also.

 

Often when a child has cancer the parents are so busy taking the sick kid to treatment they don’t have time to drive the other kids to sports teams.  The Rainbows for Kids All-Star Baseball team is open to boys and girls of all skill levels (including wheelchairs and one player even has a prosthetic leg).  We use whiffle balls, fat bats or whatever the individual child needs, plus Rainbows for Kids provides uniforms, we have practices, and a big “All-Star Game” complete with trophy presentation.  Thanks to Bascha and Matt Whiteside at All-Star Performance our game is in a safe, airconditioned  environment.

 

*One year we had Matt Carpenter and shortly before our game Rob Rains, found out Matt was selected to the MLB All-Star Game so it was very exciting to introduce the news to the crowd, that while he was at their “All–Star Game” he was also going to the Major League All-Star Game. These kids and their families are going through so much that our parties and activities serve as a way for them to have family time and keep a positive attitude which is so important in anyone’s recovery.

 

 

* Giving to the Community we Serve: The first year Rainbows for Kids was in business–  we donated $25,000 to Cardinal Glennon to purchase a special MRI machine that had video and sound to calm the children down when they got their MRIs.  Twenty years later, Rainbows for Kids spearheaded the development of a wheelchair accessible playground at Watson Trails Park. We thank the City of Sunset Hills and all how helped especially Gerald Brown the Director of Parks and Recreation for Sunset Hills. It’s a unique playground where a person in a wheelchair can stay in their chair to use some of the playground equipment.