Rainbow House hosts second annual Carnival of Hope

The Rainbow House Children’s Resource Center of Warner Robins hosted its second annual Carnival of Hope Saturday. All proceeds raised were donated to the Rainbow House.

Historically, the main fundraiser for the center was a 5K race, but executive director, Tanya Zellner and the board wanted to find a way to expand child abuse awareness in Houston County. Board member Kathy O’Neal said that was the moment they came up with the Carnival of Hope fundraiser. “The Carnival of Hope is an evening were fellowship, food, and fun is had, but also those in attendance get the opportunity to hear testimony of our guest speaker who was abused as a child, and has become successful,” O’Neal said. “This year our guest speaker was Deanna Moore. She is an author, life coach, motivational speaker and a talk show host,” Deanna is the founder/CEO of I Think I Am Foundation, a foundation that helps unaccompanied minors, children in foster care, adopted children and other at-risk youth and their families to improve their self-image and worth.

The event was held at Hummingbird Hill Farms in Perry and the Perfect Pear, which O’Neal described as a carnival theme for adults with a nacho bar, macaroni and cheese, chicken on a stick, and apples with caramel dip, catered the meal. There were also carnival themed games such as a cakewalk, hole in one, ring toss, ski ball machine and more. O’Neal said prizes were given for each game and a silent auction was held. All prizes and silent auction items were donated.

“We were very blessed this year with the generosity of our local businesses who donated items and sponsored the event as well,” O’Neal said. “We are still calculating the total amount of funds raised, but it looks to be about $15,000, and we are so very grateful. Child abuse is very prevalent in our community, and it is the mission of the Rainbow House to look out for the children in Houston County.”

The Rainbow House Children’s Resource Center is an organization devoted to reducing the occurrence of child abuse and to assisting the victims. Throughout Houston County, Rainbow House coordinates community efforts in child abuse education, advocacy, treatment, family support, prevention and training. The house itself is a child-friendly facility where children feel more comfortable talking about their situation.

Stated on their website, the Rainbow House Children’s Resource Center began as a dream in 1981 by a group known as the Houston County Child Sex Abuse Task Force. These citizens were concerned about the rate of incidences of child sex abuse in their community. This group represented many areas including child protective services, law enforcement, public and private therapists and government officials. In 1986, the dream became a reality when Rainbow House opened its doors to conduct interviews of children who allegedly had been sexually abused. The need for other programs soon became clear.