July 2020

Please continue to pray for Joe Martin, a First Community staff member.

Click here to be added to First Community prayer chain.

Over two hundred pounds of fresh produce was delivered on Tuesday to Heart to Heart from the Greg Lashutka family farm.  Thanks, Greg, and everyone who donated fresh produce to the pantry.  Clients love it!

You can view past and present Volunteer of the Month posts on this page. Bryan Smith, better known as Smitty, is our volunteer of the month for August. Click here to read his statement and learn more about him. Below is a flyer from Smitty and Creative Canvas Columbus who will be doing a fundraiser for Heart to Heart. They have extended the date through the end of August! Thank you, Smitty!

• Please continue to pray for Joe Martin, a First Community staff member.
• Click here to be added to First Community prayer chain.

by Janice Rook

On Wednesday, July 15, the Pop-Up Pantry traveled to The Commons at Grant, a supportive housing complex for clients managed by National Church Residences.  Food was bagged with stock from Lincoln Road as well as produce from the pantry and delivered to 25 residents at the complex.  A few residents were outside upon our arrival and expressed appreciation for bringing the food to their residence.  Danielle, the case manager, also expressed her thanks to our team.

Thanks to the team members; Kitty Rohrer, Kathleen Hatcher, Rose Kandel, Melody Smiley and Janice Rook.

On Wednesday, July 22, the Pop-Up Pantry team delivered food to 25 clients at North 22nd Street, a 32-unit supported housing complex for clients with mental health needs managed by National Church Residences and part of the Community Housing Network.   Food was bagged with stock from Lincoln Road, bread and produce from the pantry, and produce from our church garden.  It was then delivered to the site.  Our contact, Christine, and another staff member met us upon arrival, and bags were unloaded with assistance from three of the clients.  Staff and the clients expressed much appreciation for our efforts.

Thanks to our team members today, Kitty Rohrer, Kathleen Hatcher, Rose Kandel, Melody Smiley and Janice Rook. Thanks to Melody for donating bar soap for each of the clients. Thanks to Kitty for doing the data entry and record-keeping.

Below is a picture of Kitty, Rose, and the staff, Christine and Rachel, showing their Ohio spirit.

Since there are five Wednesdays in July, we will not be running the Pop-Up Pantry next Wednesday.  Our next pantry date will be on August 5.

If you are interested in volunteering for this new opportunity, please contact Janice Rook or Melody Smiley

• Thank you for your prayers for Diane Sturges and her mother, who is doing well.
• Please continue to pray for Joe Martin, a First Community staff member.
• Click here to be added to First Community prayer chain.

by Lamar Graham

The vision of Heart to Heart is to model God’s love by:

Cultivating a loving community
Honoring individual gifts
Feeding bodies and souls
…and seeing everyone as a child of God.

Pictured here is Anthony Bright

Anthony Bright’s last visit to Heart to Heart was in 2016. Since then, he has had steady employment, putting him in a financial position to provide for his wife and twin daughters. Anthony periodically stops by Heart to Heart just to say hello.

It brings great joy to see Heart to Heart clients find employment and no longer in need of our services. At the same time, we want the community at large and especially our clients to know, we are here for your food, spiritual, mental, and emotional needs. We take great pride in providing quality of service beyond food. We believe what makes our clients experience unique is our interaction with each client that visits us.

We will continue to fulfill our mission to “cultivate a loving community, honoring individual gifts, feeding bodies and souls, and seeing everyone as a child of God” as long as God gives us the grace to continue to do so.

Thank you for you support in providing families like Anthony’s an opportunity—an opportunity to thrive.

Take a look at a few photos from 2013 to see how far we have come since then!

by Janice Rook

This week the Pop Up Pantry traveled to Southpoint Place, a supportive housing complex for families managed by National Church Residences.  Again this week, food was bagged with stock from Lincoln Road.  It was then delivered to our designated site in south Columbus.  Bags were delivered to each family at their doorstep.  25 families were served.  Several clients were at their doors when we arrived.  They expressed thanks for bringing the food to their homes.  The bagging and distribution process went smoothly without issues.

Thanks to our team members today, Kitty Rohrer, Kathleen Hatcher and Rose Kandel.  Melody and I were there again to coordinate volunteer activities.  Kitty is entering the client families into Pantry Trak.  Rose donated soap and deodorant for each family.

Thank you for helping us load the bags of food into our cars.

Attached is the spreadsheet for the agency contacts.  Also attached are pictures.

We look forward to continuing the Pop Up Pantry next Wednesday.

If you are interested in volunteering for this new opportunity, please contact Janice Rook or Melody Smiley

• Diane Sturges and her mother
• Joe Martin, First Community staff member
• Click here to be added to First Community prayer chain.

Hi friends,

Heart to Heart is still here! We are aware that unemployment benefits are scheduled to be cut at the end of July. The majority of the clientele we see at Heart to Heart is usually a mom with 2-3 children. If benefits are cut for our families, this could create a need for more assistance. Pre COVID-19, a family of four could make a yearly income of $51,499 before being eligible to visit food pantries according to Ohio Department of Job and Family Service. Since COVID-19 a family of four can make a yearly income of up to $59,225. With the factors of unemployment, COVID-19, changing income guidelines, etc. this could mean we are in for a challenge, however we are embracing it.

We started our Pre-Packaged initiative on March 17, and we plan on continuing this process until further notice. Our very first day on March 17, we served 92 households and on the very next day March 19, we served 63 households. Since then our numbers haven’t been as high. I would attribute our number going down due to families having additional funding for food via unemployment in addition to schools helping with food and extra funding.

Whatever challenges may arise, Heart to Heart is still here. Your support through this pandemic has been matchless. We appreciate your advocacy, financial support, your volunteering, and most importantly your love and prayers. We could not do what we do without your help. Keep us in mind over the next couple of weeks as we prepare to be a blessing to each client that visits us.

With God’s help all things are possible,

Lamar

by Janice Rook

We are delighted to share that the Pop Up Pantry went smoothly today.  As you saw, food was bagged quickly with stock from Lincoln Road.  It was then delivered to our designated site, Commons at Livingston, a supported housing complex for veterans managed by National Church Residences.  Several clients were outside the entrance when we arrived.  Our contact, Joyce, met us, and bags were unloaded without any difficulty.  Joyce and the clients expressed their appreciation for our efforts.

Thanks to our team members today, Kitty Rohrer, Kathleen Hatcher, and Rose Kandel.  Melody and I were there to train and coordinate volunteer activities.  Kitty donated loaves of bread and jelly for each client. Additionally, Kathleen donated bar soap and deodorant and Janice donated full-size shampoo for each client.

If you are interested in volunteering for this new opportunity, please contact Janice Rook or Melody Smiley