Reece's Rainbow: September 2011

Thursday, September 29, 2011

If You Have our iPhone App, This Post is for You! Your Free App Update!

There is an Update to the Reece's Rainbow and Graci's World Apps. Please be sure to go download the lastest update from the App Store on your device. Go to the App Store from your iPhone, iPad or iTouch and download the new version in the Update section.

***(The Android app will also be being updated soon!)***

We have changed the look and feel a bit... including making it FULL SCREEN on the iPad! Other upgrades include:

Enhanced Navigation
Social Networking Capabilities
Comment Forums
Overall Picture and Text Clarity
Full Screen Viewing on iPad

Navigation Guide
When you open the App, you will notice that there is a different look, and now only one menu tab to use which looks like a compass

To move to the other sections within the App, touch the compass sign in the center bottom. The menu items will appear as shown below. Slide your finger to each of the menu items and lift your finger when you've made your selection. That menu items content now appears.

When you click into an item in a particular menu, you are given three menu items. Touching the first item (comment bubble) gives you the ability to add a comment to the post. Touching the third item (heart) will show that someone liked the post. Other users will open the post and see the number 2 in the heart if 2 people have touched the heart.

The Menu item in the middle (network sign) will pop up three options when touched. The first is email which allows you to forward the post to anyone of your choosing. The second allows you to post the link directly to your Facebook page and the third allows you to Tweet the post using your Twitter account!

Purpose for Update
Apple is in the process of releasing a new iOS which in our beta testing proved to be incompatible with the previous platform the Reece's and Graci's World Apps were using. Please be sure to get the new update quickly so that your service is not interrupted once the iOS is released.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please CLOSE your Reece's and Gracis Apps periodically in order to see the latest posts. We are working with our new Platform provider to discover why an autorefresh is not occuring. On a good note, closing your apps will help preserve battery time, as they wont be running in the backround when your phone is not being used.

To Close either of these Apps and other programs, press twice on the main menu button on your device (the round button). Pressing this button twice will show you which Apps are currently open on your device. Touch and hold the App that you want to close until the red minus sign appears in the upper left corner. Click on the red minus sign to close.

We will update you when this issue is resolved. Thank you for your continued support and we hope you enjoy!!!

From TeamCaz: Original post can be found here: http://graciblog.posterous.com/go-get-your-free-app-update-now

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Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Please Support Our Voice of Hope Fund!

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Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Cars 4 Causes

Donate Your Car, Boat, Motorcycle or RV to Support Reece's Rainbow

Reece's Rainbow has partnered with Cars 4 Causes® to process their vehicle donations. Cars 4 Causes® is America's 1st vehicle donation charity and specializes in turning donated vehicles into cash for your favorite charity. Your donation to Cars 4 Causes® will help raise money for Reece's Rainbow.
Directions from the Cars4Causes.net website:

Donating your vehicle only takes a few minutes with our quick and easy online donation form! Please fill out the form and a donation specialist will call you to complete your vehicle donation! Click here to fill out the form at Cars4Causes.

In addition to vehicle donations, they accept:

Cars
Trucks
Vans
SUVs
Boats
Trailers
Gadgets
RVs
Snowmobiles
Jet Skis
Motorcycles
Motorhomes
Heavy Equipment
Personal Consumer Electronics

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Sunday, September 18, 2011

Thank you, Stay Classy!

Amy Brockhaus

Well....we didn't win. :( But my goodness, what an achievement just to be there, in and of itself! Chosen as one of the top 36 charitable organizations in the COUNTRY, out of more than 3000 nominations, and the top 3 being recognized for their use of social media to spread the word. For Amy Brockhaus and April Swerdfeger to be in the same room with not only this year's nominees, but last year's winners and dozens of other globally recognized visionary charitable leaders....folks just like us who live in service to others. Wow.

Every single one of those nominees deserved to win...their organizations and efforts deserved to be recognized...the people they serve deserved that spotlight for awareness.

Even without an acceptance speech, we have a message to share with everyone who voted for us and those who know nothing about us. “Reece’s Rainbow was founded in 2006 with only 5 known orphans with Down syndrome in Ukraine. In only 5 years, and through the exclusive use of social media and internet efforts, Reece’s Rainbow has raised more than $2.5 million in adoption grants and found “forever families” for more than 500 orphans with Down syndrome and other special needs from 26 countries the world.

With a nearly 90% prenatal abortion rate of babies with Down syndrome here in the US, Reece’s Rainbow is honored to serve those children blessed enough to be born. We have grown from a grassroots “it doesn’t have to be this way” idea to a true human rights movement as a direct result of unwavering commitment and the availability of social media to aid us in getting the message out. Websites, blogs, email, Facebook….Social Media has made it possible for us to reach far beyond the existing Down syndrome community.

Even if adopting is not the right choice for your own family, your donation to a child’s adoption grant makes all the difference in the world. Our long term goal is to eliminate the NEED for Reece’s Rainbow…to show the world, by example, the joys and blessings of Down syndrome…to achieve a world where people with Down syndrome are cherished and appreciated, not aborted or hidden away in mental institutions out of ignorance and shame. This is the 21st century! Our waiting children are SO thankful to be nominated for this very special award. We are especially grateful to Stay Classy for this opportunity, and to Emmy-Award winning actress Patricia Heaton for dragging us down “Twitter Lane” earlier this year with her $10,000 Twitter Challenge. God bless all of you in your continued service to others!"

So THANK YOU Stay Classy for this opportunity...THANK YOU Patricia Heaton! Thank you to everyone who voted and sent us into this competition with the *most popular votes!* Thank you for your support of the work Reece's Rainbow does, and for believing in us all the way!

The only real downside to not winning is also not receiving that $15,000 check :( We're really needing help in our Voice of Hope fund to cover the immense costs of providing for all of these Buddy Walk and Angel Tree materials! That $15k would have put a big dent in that bill. And we have so many amazing projects we want to do in 2012....if you have a few extra bucks, or a few extra friends who have a few extra bucks, please consider a donation to our Voice of Hope fund.

This is our bottom line, what makes it possible for RR to even continue doing what we do! We operate on less than 10% of our total earnings for each year. We do not have credit, we work only with that which we have in hand, and only from funds specifically designated for VOH. But if we want to *grow*, we need your help!

You can also join our Facebook Cause and donate there, or you can give through our website directly at http://reecesrainbow.org/sponsorship/voiceofhope

Thank you!

Andrea Roberts, Exec Dir

Reece's Rainbow

andrea@reecesrainbow.org (if you have any questions)

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Saturday, September 17, 2011

Owen's Angels

This Week's Owen's Angels!

Our new correspondent, Owen Roberts, will be sharing his choice for our Angel of the Week.

Each week, in addition to selecting our Angel, Owen will be answering some questions about himself so that we can get to know him better!

RR: Hi Owen, YOUR readers want to know. If you were to have a meal with all of your favourite things in it, what would that be?

OR: Anything but steak

RR: What is your favourite colour?

OR: Red

RR: If you were going to make a picture for your Mum, what would you choose to make it?

OR: Crayon

RR: Ok, Thank you for time with us this week! We'll be sure to share your pick of the week!

Please meet Owen's Angel of the Week:

Meet Saul!

Be sure to right click on the box below and then select all.

Look at his dimples!

If you would like more information on Saul or any of the other children, please contact us!

Please help Saul find his forever family by sharing him on facebook, twitter, your blogs and any social media you use! Thank you so much!

He can be found here: http://reecesrainbow.org/saul

Saul

Boy, born December 2007

Be still my heart, is that a dimple?!

As of February 2011:

Saul's thyroid was tested recently, and was normal. Though his heart problem has been improving and no surgical intervention has been required, regular follow-up will still be necessary. His next cardiology appointment will be in February 2012.

His health condition is stable, however he has not grown much (height or weight) recently, and he is still about the 3rd percentile on the growth chart.

$80.00 is available towards the cost of my adoption!

Please grab our Child of the Week Button (above) for your blog. Each week this button will change to show the current week's child (you only need to add the button once to your blog). The children that will be featured will be ones with $0 or very low adoption grant funds. By hosting our Child of the Week button we are hoping to not only raise awareness for that particular child but also to hopefully raise the amount in their fund. These funds have proven to help families who would otherwise be qualified and able to adopt them, except for the cost of an international adoption, feel able to commit to bringing home and giving the precious gift of a family to these angels.

Thank you for all you do to support and help Reece's Rainbow!

You can share on facebook, twitter, via email!

Friday, September 16, 2011

The New Reece's Rainbow Forum

Have you been to the new Reece's Rainbow forum? Besides being completely branded 'RR' it is completely ours. That means that all of our advocates and family posts stay with us... we don't have to worry about a forum closing and losing all of our posts and helpful information.

It also means that we don't have to have ads from other forums that, as we've seen, are not the sort of thing we want on our forum.

If you were on our yahoo group or on the yuku forum it is very easy to make the switch over. In fact, if you were on yuku, you are automatically on the new one. If you had a space in your user name, it will have converted to a '-' in between but otherwise all of our former users are on the new forum!

If you need help finding out your new sign in information, please email lisa@reecesrainbow.org and she can help you with your sign in! We definitely want all of our members to be able to share with each other!

If you haven't signed up to join our forum and are one of our families or advocates, we invite you to please join! http://forum.reecesrainbow.org

The Father's Forum is also still up if there are any men/husbands/fathers that are either interested in adoption, have already adopted, or advocacy. That can be found here: http://reecesrainbow.org/forum/

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Thursday, September 15, 2011

The Preston family and their son Nathaniel

Matt and Tammy

Matt and Tammy have 3 daughter's and all are excited about their first addition to their family through adoption. Little Nathaniel is a beautiful 9 month old boy, who has hydrocephalus. Hydrocephalus is sometime called "water on the brain". Treatment of hydrocephalus involves the insertion of a shunt to let the excess fluid exit and relieve the pressure on the brain. Their intent is to adopt him and have the necessary shunt placed as soon he arrives in the United States. They've submitted their dossier and are now waiting for their travel date.

They still need help with raising the funds needed to bring Nathaniel home. You can visit them on their family blog: http://savenathaniel.blogspot.com/
You can donate also directly to his FSP on RR: http://reecesrainbow.org/sponsorpreston

Words from Matt and Tammy's heart.

"We adore Nathaniel. We were not looking for a son when we found him. God placed Nathaniel on our hearts and we just knew he was meant to be with us. We want Nathaniel to one day know what it feels like to walk barefoot on the fresh cut grass. To stick his tongue out and catch the fallen snow. To catch fire flies in the dark. To run, play, and jump. We want Nathaniel to live and have a life that all little boys deserve."

Nathaniel

Please help the Preston family bring him home...he literally doesn't have time to waste.

Grab This!

Be sure to right click on the box below and then select all.

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Sunday, September 4, 2011

The Burlingham's and their Andriy

The Burlingham's (l) and Andriy (r)

Amanda and David just sent their dossier in for Andriy. It's should be in country on Tuesday..THIS TUESDAY. That means they can be submitted in as little as one week and be given a travel date very shortly after that. Here's the honest truth out of Amanda's own heart. Her last blog post reads in part,

''I am begging. (We) don't have a back up plan. Nothing is hiding up (our) sleeve. Just share about me, about Andriy, about my little blog. Please share anywhere, I am not picky"

"So I ask you~Will you donate if nothing is offered? If I don't have an iPad 2 will you still donate? I can say that without people I have never met we would not be at over $10,000.(raised)!!! Every single donation big or small has gotten us this far..."

Because even though they DON'T have all the funds in place just yet, they fully trust the funds will come. They are in need of a great amount still. They've sent in their dossier out of faith, because time is running out for Andriy & he's been without his family for far to long.

Andriy

Amanda and David have been married for 11 years. They grew up together. David owns his own restaurant and Amanda is a stay at home mom. They have three children at home. Kyah 8, Aiden 5, and Braya 2. They're excited to welcome their second son into their family. Andriy will be their first child through adoption.

If you can help, please visit their blog or their Family Sponsor Page, where you can make a tax deductible donation.

You can read their blog here: http://justonemore4us.blogspot.com/
Their FSP page is here: http://reecesrainbow.org/sponsorburlingham

Grab This!

Be sure to right click on the box below and then select all.

You can share on facebook, twitter, via email!

Friday, September 2, 2011

Introducing :: Owen's Angels!

Introducing Owen's Angels!

RR: Hi Owen, can you tell our readers how old you are?

OR: 6

RR: What sports do you play?

OR: Baseball and Football

RR: Do you have a favourite sport team or player?

OR: Julio Jones from Alabama

RR: What are your favourite classes at school?

OR: Math and History

RR: Owen, can we use a photo of you for our Owen's Angel feature?

OR: YES

RR: Ok, Thank you for our little interview!

Please meet Owen's Angel of the Week:

Meet Francine!

Be sure to right click on the box below and then select all.

Francine just beams!

Two different RR families that have met her have said how full of personality and sweetness she is!

If you would like more information on Francine or any of the other children, please contact us!

Please help Francine find her forever family by sharing him on facebook, twitter, your blogs and any social media you use! Thank you so much!

She can be found here: http://reecesrainbow.org/francine1602

Francine

Girl, Born May 2006
Francine has been waiting a long time for her forever family.   She was born with CP, but you can see how well she is doing and how strong she is physically. She is an orphanage favorite.
From her medical records:  cerebral palsy, spastic diplegia, delay of psychospeech development
From a family who visited with her in November 2010: I recognized Francine at 16, and we actually met her last November. I included a photo, and although it's not the most flattering shot, she was in the middle of singing in the fall pageant. She was adorable, and Tom and I both fell in love with her. She can walk without assistance, although she is unsteady. But, she was able to follow the dance routine pretty well. She is smiley and very sweet. She waved a lot to us when we saw her during our visits. One of the nannies always took her outside to play with the other kids, and you could tell she is well liked by everyone. Even some of the other kids brought her toys and talked to her during playtime. At the time, I took a photo of her legs to help show her disability, but I didn't see her on RR when we got home. I forgot all about it until I saw her on there today.
From a family who visited with her in August 2010: "I just wanted to say that Francine is mobile and doesn't let her CP stop her!   She was a very sweet little girl and her face beamed when she smiled! She has beautiful light blue eyes and dark hair. I know she would make a wonderful daughter. If anyone asks about her I'd love tell them more about her. "

$2072.00 is available towards the cost of my adoption!

Please grab our Child of the Week Button near the top of this post for your blog. Each week this button will change to show the current week's child (you only need to add the button once to your blog). The children that will be featured will be ones with $0 or very low adoption grant funds. By hosting our Child of the Week button we are hoping to not only raise awareness for that particular child but also to hopefully raise the amount in their fund. These funds have proven to help families who would otherwise be qualified and able to adopt them, except for the cost of an international adoption, feel able to commit to bringing home and giving the precious gift of a family to these angels.

Thank you for all you do to support and help Reece's Rainbow!

You can share on facebook, twitter, via email!