History
Started by a group of mothers desiring to teach their children the importance of giving back and serving others, Rays of Hope began in 2006 with a group of children - our children - who served in soup kitchens and sang at Nursing Homes during Christmas. The annual volunteer opportunities served as a means of exposing our children to people of different socioeconomic backgrounds and generations. As the children grew older, we recognized the need to broaden our scope and frequency of activities as well as invite other youth from the community to participate. Resultantly, Rays of Hope was incorporated as an organization in September 2014. We received our 501 (c)3 status in 2015.
Although Rays of Hope was not started as a means of meeting the educational system’s graduation requirement for community service, it has now become an added benefit for the participants.