When a young child is sick, it's a very stressful time for parents. But one place in Omaha, the Rainbow House, helps take away some of that stress. Students at Gethsemane Lutheran School decided they could help out too.

Even in winter, an ice cream social can warm the heart. But Wednesday’s ice cream at Gethsemane Lutheran School is more about the heart of one little girl, 20-month old Olivia Grieser. Back in October, Pneumonia sent her to the hospital in Lincoln where she almost died.

Olivia’s mother, Michelle Grieser, says, "her heart rate in the first intubation trial dipped down to 26 beats per minute and then she coded and she coded a second time.”

With such a sick little girl, Michelle and Jason Grieser were told their daughter needed to be life-flighted to Children's Hospital and Medical Center in Omaha. “The chopper people were waiting outside the door and saw a window of opportunity and said if we're going to save her, we need to go. So we got on the chopper with just a heartbeat, she had no pulse and no blood pressure."

At Children’s, Olivia was diagnosed with Para-influenza and a heart defect. She would spend the next 27 days at Children's, and with home being Lincoln, her parents needed a temporary home in Omaha. That's when they found the Carolyn Scott Rainbow House.

"Even when they tell you it's ok, go get a good night's sleep, you'll still want to be close enough that if that call comes, you can be there in a moment's notice and with the Rainbow House you can be," explains Grieser.

Colleen Sipolla, Coordinator at the Rainbow House, says, "the Rainbow House is part of Children's Hospital and we're here for families who live 60 miles or more away from Omaha and need a place to stay."

A stay in hotel-like rooms that is free of charge, providing at least one break at a time when life isn't offering any of them.

Back to that ice cream social, it's the treat for hard work that came from the heart, or in this case hearts - all 80 of them.

"Just to hear that there are 80 kids who really care about them and care about what's going on there," explains Jason Schmidt, a teacher at Gethsemane Lutheran School.

It’s care that came in the form of bags full of food, paper towels and cleaning supplies. Items that were brought in by the students to help those at the Rainbow House after the house help the Grieser family.

"To put something like this together and to show so much love and concern for people, it's really a touching thing," says Schmidt.

Olivia Grieser is now getting rehabilitation at the Madonna Center in Lincoln. Doctors can’t say when or if she’ll fully recover, but she is showing positive signs like trying to crawl and walk.

If you would like to help with donations for the Rainbow House, here are the items they always need. You can call the house at (402) 955-7835 or e-mail them at ccipolla@chsomaha.org.

Non-Food Items:

-paper towels
-paper cups/plates
-napkins
-Kleenex
-Hy-vee gift cards
-Target gift cards
-pre-paid phone cards
-batteries (all sizes)
-zip lock bags
-aluminum foil
-bottled dish soap
-dishwasher detergent
-Tide with Bleach powdered laundry soap
-dryer softener sheets
-bottled bleach
-Sharpie markers (fine point only)
-mechanical pencils
-Bic pens
-copy paper
-plastic kitchen storage container (Glad, etc. – all sizes)

Food Items:

-gallons of 2% milk
-sodas
-squeeze bottles of mayonnaise, relish and barbeque sauce
-brownie mixes
-cake mixes and frostings
-flavored baking chips (chocolate, butterscotch, etc.)
-vegetable spray for cooking
-cocoa for baking
-vegetable oil for baking
-Karo syrup
-oatmeal for baking
-Rice Krispies for baking
-mini marshmallows
-canned pumpkin
-snack chips, individual or family size
-individually-wrapped snacks (Little Debbie, crackers or chips)