Valdosta and Lowndes County community leaders met at Raintree Village in Dasher, GA to help celebrate 50 years of service to our area and its children. Attendees included Valdosta Mayor John Gayle, Lowndes County Board of Commissioners Chairman Bill Slaughter, Lowndes County Commissioner Mark Wisenbaker, Dasher Mayor G.R. Holton, Valdosta Lowndes Chamber President Myrna Ballard and Citizens Bank CEO Glenn Copeland.

Raintree Village Executive Director Kenny Holton thanked the community leaders for their support and announced a 50th Anniversary Capital Campaign to help Raintree Village modernize some of its facilities.

This Campaign will start with a major fundraising event, the first annual Raintree Village Benefit Dinner and Live Auction. The Benefit Auction will be held on the evening of October 8th at the Rainwater Conference Center in Valdosta.

How Raintree Village Serves our Community

In Georgia alone, 30 children enter foster care every day; that’s over 10,000 children each year. When foster families aren’t an option, it’s up to organizations like Raintree Village to care for them.

For many children, foster homes provide excellent care and stability; however, the need for group homes still remains. For a variety of reasons, such as behavioral problems, some children require the structure and support of a group home such as Raintree Village. Raintree Village also accepts sibling groups that might otherwise be separated when placed in foster care.

Without homes such as Raintree Village, children at need in Lowndes County would have to be relocated to homes farther away from their families, which would make family visitations more challenging. The need in our community is real, and Raintree Village needs your help to continue meeting that need.

Raintree Village Needs Community Support

Beginning in 2004, Georgia’s Division of Family and Children Services revised its child placement policies, favoring the placement of children in foster homes rather than group homes such as Raintree Village. This change in policy has resulted in less state funding for group homes, as well as reduced and less predictable occupancy. This has put a strain on the operating budgets of group homes, making charitable donations vital to their continued existence and operation.

Funds raised in the Capital Campaign will be used to meet a number of pressing needs at Raintree Village, including:

- Improved campus security to insure the safety of our residents
- Upgrades to our cottage interiors
- Renovations to our campus facilities
- New Signage
- Reliable transportation