2 weeks Ago
ANDOVER — A nonprofit organization will be honored for its work to improve street safety in all Massachusetts communities after its first year of work for the cause. Sidney Mae Olson Rainbow Fund, also known as Sidney’s Rainbows, is the first recipient of the Sue Tucker Community Service Award given by state Sen. Barry Finegold, D-Andover.
The nonprofit is composed of Andover residents advocating to improve street safety in town and encourage kids to engage in healthy activities. Sidney’s Rainbows formed as a way to honor the spirit of the 5-year-old who was fatally hit by a tractor-trailer in a crosswalk in Elm Square as she was walking with her family to art class in May 2023. Finegold said the award was named in honor of the late state senator to link the recipients “with her inspiring contributions to the community.
” Tucker served as a House representative from 1982 to 1992 and in the Massachusetts Senate from 1999 to 2011. She was an effective voice for children, consumers, people experiencing homelessness and individuals with disabilities, Finegold said. “Senator Tucker’s legacy of community service is felt by so many in our community,” Finegold said.
“Sue was truly a trailblazer, serving the people of the Merrimack Valley.” Sidney Olson’s parents, Eric Olson and Mary Beth Ellis, lead the organization. Eric Olson said hearing they were the first recipients of the award is an honor because of Tucker’s legacy.
“It’s humbling and speaks volumes to the importance of the issue,” Olson said. In just over a year since Sidney Olson’s death, the Andover organization launched several events such as the Sidney’s Rainbow Run and community outreach to bring awareness to traffic violence and implement change. “We became members of the club no one wants to be a member of,” Olson said.
“Once you do that, you realize just how much energy there is around the issue of traffic violence and the potential to have a community that is much more active and connected if you get rid of it.” Olson said while their name is attached to the organization because of their daughter, the award is a reflection of the hard work of a community which has come together to change traffic rules. Its volunteers are at farmers markets and events every week to advocate the mission of Sidney’s Rainbows.
“It speaks to the hard work that people have put in, without us ever asking, to be out in the community every week not just fighting for change to our traffic rules, but opening up opportunities for kids to participate in active lifestyles in a way that they haven’t before,” Olson said. The organization has had hundreds of volunteers at its events with a dedicated core group of parents of Sidney Olson’s friends helping out. The nonprofit’s mission is to make all Massachusetts communities places where children feel safe to freely walk, run and play by “giving voices to the vulnerable,” for safer streets and vehicles traveling on them, Olson said.
Along with it, he said they strive to provide children with access to healthy activities. “One of the things we are most proud of in this first year is the kids’ running group which my wife runs,” Olson said. “Sidney’s Rainbow Runners” is a camp-style program for kids under 10 years old.
“We’ve been able to inspire a lot of healthy lifestyles in the outdoors which then marries with having safe places to encourage more mobility of kids,” Olson said. The next big event for the organization is Sidney’s Rainbow Run on Nov. 28.
The event will be paired with World Day of Remembrance for traffic victims. There will be a new format for the kids’ race, taking the form of a 1K, or 1,000 meters, kids’ run to recognize the 1,000 children killed every year in traffic accidents and tying in the impact of traffic violence on kids. Sidney’s Rainbows will receive the award during a ceremony next month.
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