The generosity of our partners, corporate sponsors, fellow nonprofits and individual donors, makes services possible for caregivers, the parents and child care providers we are proud to serve. That support returns to the community through our work each day. Through difficult times, our staff and services have grown, with good things to come in 2022.
Love and other details for optimal development
Recently, we invited our staff to share a favorite children’s book. Newbery Award-winning author Miguel de la Peña is best known for his picture book “Last Stop on Market Street” but another beloved teacher pick is his more recent title, “Love.” The book sums up how the gestures of a community give children the love they leave home with and carry out into the world. Love shows up in the hopeful gaze of proud parents staring at a newborn in his crib, in the hastily prepared breakfast offered by a sibling, in the crease of a grandfather’s brow as he spends time with his grandchildren. It is laughter in the park, music on the corner and shared umbrellas on stormy days.
Early experiences matter, including quality child care, interactions with compassionate adults and quality resources. These small moments are the details that form a life. Between parent and child, we see the love. Through child care providers, it shows up in the kind ways they do their jobs.
Caring for our community
At Rainbow Fleet we know firsthand the ways caregivers are dedicated to children and families. Love and care buoy so much of what they do. Our services, in turn, support the ways Oklahoma’s youngest learners are nurtured. Parents find affordable child care solutions in their area through our referral specialists. They join teachers and other caregivers in accessing age-appropriate toys in our Resource Center. Child care providers learn new skills and brush up on standard approaches to early childhood development with our training sessions, from safe sleep and CPR to self-care best practices. Since 2021, our Rainbow Fleet Early Education Center staff has greeted more than 60 young children with a smile each morning, bringing more child care options in Oklahoma City. Most recently, we partnered with the Chickasaw Nation to host an after-school program for more than 30 local students for consistent, caring supervision complete with snacks and homework help.
The love expressed through every donation goes back to local children, in every outreach effort, connection and word of encouragement.
Love gives back
Our upcoming projects include expanding services in the Hispanic community and celebrating Rainbow Fleet’s 50th anniversary. As our community has become more diverse over the past five decades, we have changed and adapted to meet needs throughout the state, with training sessions in Spanish, the addition of full-time bilingual coordinators and a range of multicultural materials. Reaching parents and providers would not be possible without donations. Please share the love this month and impact future generations by donating here.
When we invest in children, we express the same hope shared by parents everywhere, recognizable in storybook pages but so often seen in real life. Thank you for helping make our community better and kinder through each well-loved child.
P.S. Find more of our staff’s book recommendations each month here on our Facebook page.
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