Springfield, MO -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/26/2013 -- While they have educated thousands of children, built hundreds of houses, given thousands of micro-enterprise loans to start small businesses, and provided healthcare to the neediest in rural Nicaragua, The Rainbow Network is about to mark a milestone that is the culmination of almost two decades of work – the serving of their forty millionth meal.

The organization will celebrate this landmark occasion in the last week of April 2014, during The Rainbow Network’s Second Annual GO & SEE Trip. The trip allows donors and interested individuals to visit rural Nicaragua and witness the charity’s good work first-hand.

That is what’s so special about The Rainbow Network – their life-saving work has not been funded by celebrities or bulk donations. Instead, the organization’s work assisting impoverished Nicaraguan communities has been a collective grassroots effort by thousands of donors across the country.

Two of these donors, Bill and Pam Carpenter of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, recently returned from their first trip to see the work of The Rainbow Network in rural Nicaragua.

“We recently visited Nicaragua with The Rainbow Network and saw first-hand the impact of their work in the remote villages they serve! Lives are being impacted, children are going to school with many going on to high school, communities have access to doctors, community bank micro-loan programs are creating opportunities to earn money, houses are being built and nutrition centers have helped to cut the malnutrition rate in the villages served,” they said.

The organization’s Founder, Keith Jaspers, gives an example of the impact The Rainbow Network has had on one of many children.

"Dory Luz was 4-years-old when her mother brought her to us. She still had not walked, weighed less than 20 lbs, could not talk, complicated with pneumonia and severe diarrhea. This was all the result of severe malnutrition....3rd stage malnutrition! Her life was saved the day she began taking the antibiotics and fortified nutrition provided to her by The Rainbow Network. Today, Dory Luz is a happy, normal and healthy 11-year-old, attending a Rainbow Network grade school. But it took years in our feeding centers and constant medical attention to finally bring her to this point!" he explains.

Continuing, “One in three Nicaraguan children have some degree of chronic malnutrition. This has been cut to less than eight percent in areas served by The Rainbow Network. As of today, community volunteers operate one hundred and thirty two feeding centers in Rainbow Network villages. These centers are often the only regular source of nutrition for the children, pregnant and nursing mothers, and the at-risk elderly they serve. Coupled with our other key focus areas including education, economic development and housing, we look forward to celebrating many more milestones in the future.”

In addition to its feeding centers, The Rainbow Network has helped thousands of families establish successful gardens, providing fresh produce for their family and often the entire community. The organization has also given more than 60,000 micro-enterprise loans to families throughout rural Nicaragua, allowing them to start small businesses and generate an income for themselves. “These programs have been very effective in helping the Nicaraguan communities we serve to end the long-standing cycle of hunger they have faced for generations.” said Jaspers. “It can also eliminate the need for a feeding center in that community all together. The Rainbow Network partners with the Nicaraguan people to develop long-term sustainable solutions to poverty.”

Those interested in learning more about the upcoming 2014 GO & SEE Trip should visit: www.GOANDSEE.org.

For more information about The Rainbow Network and how you can help visit: www.RainbowNetwork.org.

About The Rainbow Network
Since its founding in 1995, the mission of the Rainbow Network has been to share in the love of Jesus Christ by partnering with Nicaragua’s poorest people in healthcare, education, economic development, and housing. Rainbow Network has sought to accomplish its mission by being a model charity organization; incorporating best practices in rural economic development and providing hope through innovative, integrated and sustainable solutions that empower local communities and promote self-sufficiency. This holistic model, combined with the extraordinary dedication of the Nicaraguan people and the generosity of donors, has allowed Rainbow Network to maintain a full-time presence in seven regions of rural Nicaragua and expand from four original communities to a total of 105 to date.

The Rainbow Network is an interfaith missions origination founded by businessman and hotelier Keith Jaspers. Since its founding, The Rainbow Network has served nearly forty-million meals, educated thousands of children, given more than 60,000 micro-enterprise loans, built nearly 800 houses and provided more than 650,000,000 medical consultations to the neediest in rural Nicaragua.

To learn more about the Rainbow Network, how you can help or to make a donation visit www.RainbowNetwork.org, call (417) 889-8088 or send mail to The Rainbow Network, 3834 South Avenue, Springfield, MO 65807.