THANKS TO THE JUNIOR LEAGUE OF WORCESTER

The holiday season is always one of joy, anticipation, and chaos. At Rainbow it is no different particularly, due to the Herculean efforts of the members of the Junior League of Worcester. Each December, every child (150+) enrolled in our programs receives gifts thanks to these guardian angels.

The Junior League's Adopt-an-Angel project, which provides holiday gifts to needy children (200 this year), is one of many special programs sponsored by their membership. After collecting statistical information from the Center on the number, age, and sex of the children in attendance, the League, in collaboration with sponsoring businesses, calls on members of the public to select a child's name to purchase gifts on the children's wish list that is provided by the agency. The generosity of the Worcester community is heartwarming. By mid December, the Junior League arrives at Rainbow's door with gifts, wrapped and tagged for each child. Our offices resemble Santa's workshop for the next week as we distribute the gifts to the childrens parents. These gifts provide a special meaning to the
holiday season for our children and their families. And it certainly gives new meaning to the holiday spirit at Rainbow.

The Center is also very appreciative of the Junior League's Day Care Readers Program. Volunteers from the League visit the Center on a monthly basis to read to the children in our preschool and to donate books to the programs library. Two years ago the Center was a recipient of a Junior League grant to purchase new books for our school age program. This past year the Junior League's Readers program served 950 children in 13 centers and donated over $2,000 worth of books.

For the past 75 years, the Junior League of Worcester's mission has been to help improve the lives of women and children in our community. The League is to be commended for their efforts in supporting literacy programs and brightening the lives of children in need during the holiday season.