The Rainbow Project
The Rainbow Project (www.rainbowproject.bizland.com) is a local non-profit counseling center that provides treatment and early intervention services for young children and their families who have experienced trauma, including child sexual abuse, neglect and/or domestic violence. Founded in 1980, by Sharyl Kato, Executive Director, the clinic has provided services to nearly 5,000 children. Both Sharyl and Hugh Johnston, M.D., Rainbow’s resident psychiatrist, are well known not only locally, but also nationally for pioneering techniques in prevention, early intervention and treatment services and developing programs which have been shown to break the cycles of family and community violence and addressing trauma for young children including natural disasters, grief/loss or chronic illness.
The Project’s unique “hands on” comprehensive approach is unlike that of any other therapy clinic and includes home, day care and school visits. In fact, this is one of the reasons why working at Rainbow is part of the required curriculum for every University of Wisconsin Medical resident who elects to specialize in child psychiatry. The Rainbow Project also works closely with all levels of law enforcement and the courts not only to protect the rights of abused children but also bring the perpetrators to justice. Many of Rainbow’s clients are referrals from the legal system who are the victims of some of the worst cases that you might read about in the newspaper. Major year round funders of clinic include the United Way of Dane County, the Dane County Department of Human Services and the City of Madison.
Rhumba 4 Rainbow
However, in order to maintain this high level of service (that makes their particular early intervention treatment programs so successful) Rainbow relies heavily on private funding, in addition to government grants. This has proven to be even more critical over the past few years with all of the recent budgets cuts to all levels of government funding. As a result, several years ago, Sharyl decided to combine her love for salsa dancing with a fundraiser for traumatized children…hence, RHUMBA 4 RAINBOW!
What makes Rhumba 4 Rainbow so unique and successful?
The event features a very diverse crowd. It is a time when the business sector, government officials, the community and “salseros” all come together for a night of dancing and fun while raising money for a good cause. Many of our corporate sponsors and individual donors come strictly as spectators to see one of the best shows in Madison.
The first Rhumba (November 2005) was held at the Frank Lloyd Wright Monona Terrace Convention Center in Madison, Wisconsin. About 180 attendees were on hand for Madison’s 1st Annual Salsa Dance Contest. Prizes included trophies, hotel stays and gift certificates all donated by local businesses. There was also a Latin Dance Floorshow, door prizes, a small silent auction (including Packer and Badger sports tickets), all the quesadilla’s you could eat and a cash bar. Madisalsa, a local salsa band, provided live music.
The second Rhumba 4 Rainbow was hosted by Madison’s own Palace Latin Club. Over 350 people attended for an exciting night of dancing to Grupo Candela. The silent auction was expanded to over 40 unique items including golf and spa packages, a wide variety of gift certificates, dinners with local celebrities and specialty gift baskets. All of these were donated by local merchants. We decided to introduce a live auction format for the Packer and Badger tickets. The Mayor of Madison and Fire Chief became our first celebrity judges for the 2nd Annual Madison Salsa Championship.
The contest gained regional recognition as some entrants came from as far away as Green Bay and Chicago to compete for larger prizes. Special Extra Mile Awards were presented by the Dane County Executive to individuals who were recognized for their exceptional contributions to the well-being of children and their families, including an award to Senator Herb Kohl. The result? Rhumba 4 Rainbow 2 was an overwhelming success, exceeding our goal by more than double!!!!
On September 29, 2007 over 450 people jam packed the grand ballroom at the Inn on the Park Hotel for the 3rd RHUMBA. Four professional acts (direct from the World Salsa Congress) topped the floorshow. An unbelievable performance by International dance stars Brandon and Serena literally “brought the house down”! Again, dancers came from all over the state to participate in the 3rd Annual Madison Salsa Championship. The celebrity judges included Civil Rights Director Lucia Nunez and Enis Raglund from the mayor’s office.
An exciting new part of the fundraising was the addition of “Sponsorship Tables”. Major purchasers included Meriter Hospital, The American Family Insurance Children’s Hospital, St Mary’s Hospital, Park Bank, H E Stark Agency, HealthQuickQuote.com, Marshall Financial Group, Becker Law Office, Madison Newspapers, and The Isthmus. The Madison Police Chief, Noble Wray, and State Senator Mark Miller presented the Extra Mile Awards. Overall it was the most exciting Rhumba ever, but more importantly, we again exceeded our fund raising goal.
The date is now set for Friday, September 19, 2008 for the 4th Annual Rhumba 4 Rainbow. As before we hope to continue to make each successive event both bigger and better than the one before. This year we are anticipating more than 550 attendees. As a result, we have booked the Madison Marriott West Convention Center Grand Ballroom. The Hotel is conveniently located on Madison’s west side right off the beltline at Greenway Cross. Of course, we will continue to try to bring in some of the best acts in the world for our floorshow. And in addition to this, we hope to add a well known sports “celeb” to our judge’s panel.
SO COME ON OUT AND HAVE FUN
WHILE RAISING MONEY FOR A GREAT CAUSE!!
