Rayola Inc. is proud to announce it has received a $3,000 grant from the Midland Rotary Foundation to support the organization’s Care Packages for Foster Youth initiative in Midland County. This funding will help Rayola provide essential comfort items, personal care products, and supportive resources to children and teens in the foster care system. These care packages are designed to bring dignity, encouragement, and a sense of belonging to youth who are often navigating diff

When you ask Janet Lachon and Carolyn Riedel how many quilts and bags they’ve made for children in foster care, they both laugh a little, then offer numbers that sound almost impossible. Janet guesses she’s sewn “200, maybe more… 250 plus, maybe 300, honestly” quilt tops over the years. Carolyn estimates she’s created hundreds of zippered pouches, 400–500 Halloween bags, nearly 200 Valentine’s bags, and now dozens of reversible purses—with more on the way. Taken together, t

A conversation between Savannah Beth Withers Taylor and Lynsey Zawacki, community resource coordinator for Ogemaw and Roscommon for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. By Savannah Beth Withers Taylor SBWT: What is the current state of foster care in Roscommon and Ogemaw counties? LZ: Currently, the state is moving toward prevention. Removals are lessening, but we still have 23 children in Ogemaw and 51 children in Roscommon who are in foster care. SBWT: What

In recent years, many companies have expanded their benefits packages to include something called service PTO. For nonprofits like Rayola, this growing workplace trend represents a powerful opportunity to turn paid work hours into meaningful community impact. Service PTO (sometimes called volunteer PTO or VTO) allows employees to take paid time off from their regular jobs specifically to volunteer with nonprofit organizations. Unlike traditional vacation days, service PTO is