The Rainbow Summer Program plans a wrapup celebration Wednesday, July 24, at the Vox Theatre. 1405 Southwest Blvd., Kansas City, Kansas.
About 100 boys and girls in the summer program will receive free backpacks with school supplies as part of the program.
Offered by the Rosedale Development Association and Sharing Communities Rosedale, the summer program emphasized reading, financial literacy and wellness for boys and girls in kindergarten through eighth grade.
The Rosedale Development Association, 1403 Southwest Blvd., is collecting new backpacks for the students as a way for them to get a head start on their school supplies, said Alissa Workman, development director for the RDA.
Sharing Communities Rosedale began in 1977 and has provided community services, including the Rainbow Summer Program.
Each afternoon, young scholars in the summer program participate in gardening, entrepreneurship, cooking classes and sports clinics. They also had the opportunity to attend field trips to the Children’s Beanstalk Garden, the Kemper Museum of Art, the Johnson County Museum and Burr Oak Nature Center.
For the past 13 years, the Rainbow Mennonite Church has been the host for the youth program, which has been so popular that it usually has a waiting list within the first week of enrollment.
RDA, incorporated in 1978, is a nonprofit organization with a mission to work with residents, businesses and institutions to develop a thriving Rosedale community. They see neighbors not only as resourceful experts but also powerful community change agents, leading to creating intergenerational events and programs that slowly craft a culture where it is fun and easy to make healthy living choices.
“RDA’s theory of change is rooted in residents’ advocating for their vision of a thriving Rosedale, from cradle to cane,” Erin Stryka, RDA executive director, said. “Programs like RSP are vital for connecting neighbors at an early age, so they stay involved and impact the people, places and policies around them as they grow.”