This year is the 22nd annual Rhumba 4 Rainbow, a music-centered fundraising event by the Rainbow Project to support their operations as a family counseling and community resource clinic.
The Rainbow Project is a Madison nonprofit that provides restorative healing for young children in Dane County from families who have experienced trauma. Their goal is to help them build life and self-management skills for their future. They work with families and caregivers as well as kids to give well-rounded care.
On their first day in 1980, the nonprofit had 35 families on their waiting list, which has never been empty since. On August 15th, The Rainbow Project celebrated its 46th anniversary; in this time, they served over 40,000 families.
Their population includes kids who have experienced traumas like child abuse, human trafficking, ICE encounters, and natural disasters, and they worked with kids after the Mount Horeb and Abundant Life school shootings.
“When you have to remember trauma, it means that they’ve also lost the ability to have sheer joy with folks close to them,” said Sharyl Kato, executive director and Child & Family Therapist at the Rainbow Project. “We work on the loss of joy, also even loss of beauty in the world. Movement is so important in experiencing mental health and in experiencing shared joy. I think we need that. It’s one of our reasons to have this event.”
In previous years Rhumba 4 Rainbow fundraisers were hosted at Varsity Hall at Union South; however, this year’s event is finding a home at Monona Terrace due to the need for a larger venue for its growing capacity.
The Rainbow Project has a full docket of guests and shows. This includes a Madison ‘Dancing with the Stars’ competition, silent auction, live music, honoring the Extra Mile Awards winners, an open salsa contest, and a fashion contest, all with a buffet-style dinner.
The theme connecting all these guests together is energetic music. “It sounds trite, but fundraising needs to be fun too,” said Kato. Rhumba and other uplifting genres bring the heart to this event.
Rhumba 4 Rainbow is hosting several world champion groups, many originating from across the Midwest. Some of the Latin dance groups performing are Evelyn and Guasa Dance and Chi X Movement. Kato is most excited for Barrio Dance, a Madison local group of high school-aged kids that made it far in both World of Dance and America’s Got Talent.
“I’ve been a groupie for a long time so I’m excited for them,” Kato said. “The dance group brings a lot of kids and families. They raise the roof, and we really need that kind of shared compassion.”
Beyond the professional dancers, the event is hosting a celebrity dance competition.
These five competitors include: Binta Ceesay, the Community Engagement and Resource Specialist at the African Center for Community Development; Mike Moh, who portrayed Bruce Lee in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and is the founder of LVLUP Martial Arts and Go Ninja; Maria Redmoud, Director of the Wisconsin Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy; Alaina Tomesh, a reporter with WMTV; and Gracie Tuohy of 27 News.
“I just love it. I love the music,” said Kato. “You see people dancing. You see everybody’s smiling, and it’s high energy. It’s our therapy ”
The event recognizes community leaders with their Extra Mile Awards. This recognition is for Madison leaders who are putting in the extra work every day in terms of trauma recovery.
These are people like teachers, physicians, lawyers, even business leaders that serve the youth population and collaborate with Madison’s other agencies. It’s important to thank them for the little things that nobody sees because it makes the difference, Kato said.
Additionally, Rainbow Project is auctioning transformative training experiences. Members of the Rainbow staff are offering community education presentations on their specialties. Usually bought by nonprofits for their staff, Rainbow Project’s therapists are offering trauma-informed training to make sure Madison’s nonprofits can be the best they can be.
It also serves as a way for Rainbow Project to uplift other nonprofits in a system that pits nonprofits against each other.
Their work has been challenged by the federal funding cuts by the Trump administration, making this fundraiser even more important. In this time, Kato notes it is necessary to have strong relationships with other Madison organizations that serve the same families in different ways.
“We have to be careful not to take on too much because we’ve done it before, and it doesn’t help anybody,” said Kato.
This fundraiser is very important for the Rainbow Project to have stability and continue its mission for years to come. As the organization’s wait list is continuing to grow, their staff is trying to intervene early with young children to prevent long-lasting mental consequences.
“If we don’t get in there early enough, we’re gonna have a hard time with the mental illness getting exacerbated,” Kato said. “So we’re seeing more hospitalizations, inpatient psychiatrically for young children. This is because some of those community programs are getting reduced and those have waiting lists so we’re gonna keep seeing that unless something happens.”
Rhumba 4 Rainbow allows the Rainbow Project staff and families a break to enjoy themselves during stressful times.
“Providing this joy extra important for families that experienced this trauma,” said Kato. ”Getting together during challenging times is the whole point”
To support the Rainbow Project and their work for Madison’s youth, you can buy tickets for Rhumba 4 Rainbow on their website. The event is Friday, Sept. 18 at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center, from 7 p.m. to midnight.
