Serving the Special Needs Community
Thursday, December 15, 2011 at 9:51PM 
This Friday, December 16th is our last Night Lights event of the year. Rays of Light and Lovers Lane extend a heartfelt thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers who faithfully served the DFW area special needs community this year! What an incredible year it has been! Our first annual Shine On! Gala was a huge success, raising $84,000 for our organization! Our families and volunteer base has multiplied and we are continually seeking more volunteers in order to provide assistance to the ever-growing needs within our metroplex. In fall of 2012, we hope to add yet another Night Lights to each month with the goal of offering it every Friday.
Rays of Light, a Texas 501(c)(3) corporation, is dedicated to serving children with special needs and their families in the Dallas metropolitan area. Rays of Light serves these special families primarily through a twice-monthly respite program called Night Lights, which gives parents of special needs children a rare evening to themselves. Parents drop off their children —most of whom have the kinds of medical diagnoses that frighten outsiders—at Lovers Lane UMC. For the next four hours, volunteers supervise and entertain the children and their siblings. For these parents, who are usually emotionally and financially stressed and who rarely, if ever, can find a nurse/babysitter to watch their children, the program is a godsend. The children, of course, adore Night Lights with its variety of games, gym activities, therapy dogs, petting zoos, water slides, and more. As of today, 48 families regularly benefit from our program. Each year, 200 volunteers serve 2,000 people at Night Lights. 
For more information, or to volunteer, contact Alice Sutherland, Executive Director.
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Reader Comments (1)
I am a caregiver withh Home Instead Senior Care and had the honor of staying with Mrs. Joann Trimble on a couple of occasions. Just wanted to express how much she loved her friends and family in Texas. The times I was with her all of you were included in her conversations. She loved you all so much. From the small amount of time I spent with her it was obvious that she was a treasure.
Judy Hughes
Hickory,NC