Ryker's Rainbow

Home
United States
Huntsville, AL
Ryker's Rainbow

Directions Website Contact the organization

Walking alongside families who experience pregnancy, infant or child loss.

11/02/2026

Each year on December 6, families around the world gather at their local Angel of Hope statues to remember the children they love and miss. The Angel of Hope stands as a symbol of comfort for grieving parents, a reminder that our children are never forgotten.

Our Angel of Hope is located in the Ryker’s Rainbow Community Prayer Garden at Valley United Methodist Church, surrounded by memory walls that hold the names children remembered by their families.

We invite you to join us at the garden for a candlelight remembrance ceremony on December 6 at 7 pm as we light candles and read aloud the names of each child on our walls, joining others across the country doing the same.

To RSVP to attend the ceremony, please visit the link in the comments. All are welcome to attend. https://forms.gle/PoroKzdVSh6PrYSi8

11/01/2026

We need your help to make one of our most meaningful evenings of the year possible for the families we serve. We are looking for individuals and businesses who would be willing to help sponsor our Five Candles Dinner of Remembrance this Christmas season.

Each year, so many families share that the Five Candles Dinner of Remembrance is their favorite night of the year. It is a night unlike any of our other gatherings.

In the midst of the holiday busyness, it is an intentional pause. A chance to slow down, breathe, be surrounded by others who have walked a similar path, and focus completely on our children in heaven. It is intentional, meaningful and sacred.

We rely on the generosity of our community to keep this evening at no charge for the families we serve, and to welcome the many healthcare professionals who have made such a lasting impact on them. Truly, we could not make this possible without your love and support.

There are a few ways you can help make this evening possible:

🕯️ Sponsor a meal for a family member for just $25 per plate.

🕯️ Become a corporate sponsor and help us continue offering this special evening at no cost to families.

🕯️ Share this post and our sponsorship link with others who may want to be part of something so meaningful.

If you would like to make a monetary donation or become a sponsor, please use the link below.

Volunteers are also such a big part of what makes this evening possible. If you would like to help with the Five Candles on December 8, 2026, please reach out to me at [email protected].

Thank you for believing in us, loving these families, and helping us create a space where their children are remembered and honored. We truly could not do this without you.

https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/five-candles-individual-and-corporate-sponsorships

10/20/2026

Ryker’s Rainbow is SIX today! 💙🌈

While Ryker’s birthday is in June, today marks six years since we officially became a nonprofit in his memory.

It’s crazy to think we’ve been loving on families for six years now. We’ve met some of our dearest friends through RR. We’ve had the honor of walking alongside nearly 1,000 families and hundreds of siblings. We’ve gotten to know so many incredible medical professionals who have made such an impact on the families we serve. And we’ve watched people show up for families they’ve never even met simply because they believe in what we do.

It’s hard to put into words what an honor it is to walk alongside families in some of their hardest days. It’s also pretty incredible to have a community that believes in what we do and continues to show up year after year. I’ve said since day one that it takes a village to raise a child, but it also takes a village to stand beside a family who has lost a child.

And goodness, what a village we have.

Thank you for loving these families. Thank you for remembering and honoring their children. Thank you for supporting something we never dreamed we would be doing. Six years later, we still wish there wasn’t a need for Ryker’s Rainbow. But as long as there are families who need us, we’ll keep showing up.

Thank you for being part of our village and for helping us serve others in Ryker’s memory.

10/18/2026

🕯 The Five Candles is our absolute favorite event to host for families each Christmas season. 🕯

We opened registration yesterday, and we’ve been surprised by how quickly seats are filling. But at the same time, we’re not surprised. So many families and healthcare professionals have shared with us just how sacred and special this night is, especially in the midst of the holiday season.

If you’ve never attended The Five Candles and are curious about what the evening looks like, we invite you to watch this short video.

There is something so special about slowing down in the busyness of Christmas to simply remember. To have a night where you can remember alongside so many others who understand without needing an explanation.

It's a night we look forward to all year, and one we never take for granted the honor of hosting.

The registration link is in the comments. If you are a loss family, we would be so honored to have you join us.

10/17/2026

The 4th Annual Five Candles Dinner of Remembrance will be Tuesday, December 8 from 6-8 PM at Burritt on the Mountain.

Registration is now open and we welcome anyone who has experienced the loss of a baby or child to attend, no matter when your loss occurred and if you have attended the event in the past. This event fills quickly each year. We kindly ask that you only RSVP if you are certain you are able to attend. The link is in the comments.

What is The Five Candles:
🕊 An evening of community, candlelight and celebrating the memory of your baby or child
🕊 Free for two adults, we kindly request no children. Due to space limitations, we are keeping initial RSVPs reserved for parents or a parent and one support person. We will open RSVPs for extended family and grandparents if space allows.
🕊 The opportunity to celebrate healthcare professionals who have made an impact on our stories
🕊 Optional: Personalized peace dove ornaments are available for purchase and will be hung at the event and are available to take home at the end of the evening. See the comments for photo.

Whether you are near or far, we hope you will join us and we look forward to spending a special evening of intentional remembrance with you during the holiday season.

Please help us spread the word and share or tag a family who may be interested in attending in the comments.

10/16/2026

💙🌈🕯️

10/15/2026

Every year on October 15, families around the world who have experienced the loss of a baby or child light a candle at 7pm in their respective time zones, creating a continuous wave of light around the world.

This year Huntsville and Madison Hospitals are hosting their Wave of Light gathering at the Ryker’s Rainbow Community Prayer Garden. Families will come together to light candles, share in fellowship and remember their children while our memory walls glow pink and blue.

One of the most meaningful ways you can support a family who has lost a child is to remember alongside them by lighting a candle. Knowing that others still remember your child means more than words can express.

Thank you for supporting Ryker’s Rainbow in so many ways, but especially for believing in the vision of our Community Prayer Garden and helping bring it to life. You have helped create a sacred space where families can come just as they are and a beautiful space of community.

To our Ryker - until heaven, sweet boy. 💙🌈

10/11/2026

I bought some Thanksgiving crafts for the kids, and they ripped into them last night. They had so much fun making them. One of the crafts was a thankful wheel where they could write down all the things they were grateful for.

When I looked at Ellis’s, it had the usual things: Family, friends, school, hot water (you can tell we had to leave the beach for the hurricane and had some conversations about the little things we take for granted, haha).

But there was one that stopped me in my tracks.Brothers….With an S.

Yes, she has two brothers. And yes, that is true. But what struck me was that her little heart is genuinely thankful for both of them. One she gets to grow up alongside and one she carries in her heart.

The heart of an 8 year old is wondrous to me. It amazes me how naturally she includes Ryker. There is no hesitation or no need to explain. He is simply her brother and she loves him, and she’s so gentle in all the ways she includes him.

She is also one of Ryker’s Rainbow’s biggest supporters. A few weeks ago, she told me she wanted white pumpkin earrings to wear throughout October in honor of her brother. And then I found her digging through our stash to pull out a “Be the Light” hat to wear while at the beach.

Sometimes I wonder how much of this she understands at her age. And then I see little moments like this and realize that maybe she understands more about love than I give her credit for.

My prayer is that no matter what life brings her that she always has a heart for both the seen and unseen. That she continues to recognize the beauty in what is here and what is no longer within reach. I pray she loves deeply, remembers freely and never feels she has to make her love smaller just because someone isn’t physically here.

What a gift it is to see the world through her eyes. I learn from her all the time. And what a gift it is that Ryker gets to be loved so fully by his sister, even from heaven.

10/09/2026

The White Pumpkin

This is the story
Of a pumpkin of white.
What is its place on this autumn night?
Amidst all the orange and colors of fall
It seems out of place; not belonging at all.
But oh what a place, and oh what a story
You see, in its face lies the image of glory.

Of babies so small, so incredibly tiny
Perfect in purpose, their souls shining brightly.
No less a baby, a child just the same
As one who was held and called by their name
Was my baby a he?
Or was she a she?
What would my child have grown up to be?

Yet bigger than questions and what ifs and whys
Is the comfort they feel when they look to the skies.
For their hope is the truth that they so tightly cling
“I’ll know all the answers, understand everything
on the day that God hands my child back to me”.

This pumpkin is sweet baby boys and girls
Who never opened their eyes to this world.
Never cried, never feared
Protected from pain
Touched by their innocence
We’re never the same.
Lives perfect and pure
All things lovely and sweet
And we honor them here
‘Till heaven we meet.

This pumpkin is all of the sweet little ones
Whose lives although short were covered in love.
In kisses and snuggles, rocking and playing
Their parents not knowing they wouldn’t be staying.
But the time that they had they would never trade
Even if they could be saved from the pain.
Their cribs may be empty, but the promise remains
One day they’ll hold their babies again.

This pumpkin is for all these sweet angel friends
Whose parents all know this isn’t the end.
And how they are doing
Tonight up in heaven
Is better than anything we could imagine.

Though we’re missing our children
And we’re still on this side
Our hearts will continue to swell with pride.
At the special, the wondrous, the out of place things
Like this white pumpkin, and the joy that it brings.
A reminder that our children are more than alive
They are perfectly whole, all things are made right.

Angel parents, I know there’s still tears to be shed
But I hope that this pumpkin brings peace instead.
Our babies are promised forever in heaven
And that’s the best gift we could ever be given.

Written by: Jennifer Stephens Giles

Address

6585 Highway 431 South Suite E-451
Huntsville, AL
35763

Website

http://www.rykersrainbow.org/, https://linktr.ee/rykersrainbow

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Ryker's Rainbow posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.