“Brent and I have recently retired and were looking for a way to give back to the community. We love volunteering with Heart to Heart food pantry. It is so much fun to meet new people and know that we are providing nutritious food for their families. Everyone has a story and their smiles fill all our hearts with joy. Volunteering at Heart to Heart is the highlight of our week and we are thankful for the opportunity to serve.”
In March, the Pop Up Pantry, delivered to the following sites:
Pop Up 2023 Monthly totals:
YTD: Individuals/families served: 504
We have exciting news to share:
1). The Pop Up Pantry now has its own web page! Thank you Amy Caskie for creating a very comprehensive page for us! It’s so easy to navigate and tell our story. Please feel free to share with family and friends.
Pop-Up Pantry Information — Heart to Heart Food Pantry (fcchurch.com)
2). Our team was able to begin using the new van. It is wonderful to have such a large space to hold all our food bags and clothing items that we deliver to our many sites each month. Thank you to all who worked so hard to make this happen.
3). Our team will, once again, be working with Franklinton Farms to deliver food and produce to SouthPark Apartments. This partnership is seasonal and will be April through October.
4). A few of us from the Pop Up team joined Amy Caskie for the Missions Volunteer WorkDay. We were able to deep clean Lincoln Road for possible use in the future. We also helped move items into Brownlee Hall. We worked hard but had a productive and fun day meeting other volunteers from Upper Arlington Grace Fellowship Church.
We are grateful for everyone who contributes to Heart to Heart and the Pop Up Pantry with their continued donations and service.
~Rose and Melody
The Upper Arlington High School PTO holds this annual “spring cleaning” event which benefits Heart to Heart food pantry through material donations. They are still looking for volunteers to work the event. The link below is a sign up for the PTO, and not Heart to Heart. Any questions about the activity through the PTO should be directed to Carrie Dombrowski.
Heart to Heart is looking for UAHS students that would like to staff the collection of material goods for the food pantry. These students would take donations and load them into the Heart to Heart van, which will be parked in the high school’s lot. If you’re interested in volunteering for this activity, please contact Amy Caskie.
Brent and Susan Davis are the volunteers of the month for April 2023. Click here to read more.
In March, the Pop Up Pantry, delivered to the following sites:
Pop Up 2023 Monthly totals:
YTD: Individuals/families served: 504
Please check to see when you can help, then use the button to access the Sign-Up Genius!
Monday, April 3
Tuesday, April 4
Wednesday, April 5
Thursday, April 6
Friday, April 7
Households served via Drive-Thru
Click the image to enlarge.
Please check to see when you can help, then use the button to access the Sign-Up Genius!
Monday, March 27
Tuesday, March 28
Wednesday, March 29
Thursday, March 30
Households served via Drive-Thru
Households served via Pop-Up
Please click the images below to read the message and attachment from Brad Draper, Senior VP of Operations at Mid-Ohio Foodbank.
Please click below to view the incoming order arriving Monday, March 20.
Riverview International Center, one of the Pop-Up Pantry’s monthly sites, recently gave us a shout-out in their newsletter! The Riverview International Center empowers our New American neighbors by supporting individuals, strengthening families and nurturing community. Read more about the Pop-Up Pantry on our website.
Households served via Drive-Thru
Households served via Pop-Up
Please check to see when you can help, then use the button to access the Sign-Up Genius!
Monday, March 20
Tuesday, March 21
Thursday, March 23
On March 4, we introduced this year’s Heart to Heart Ministry Team. We had our first meeting on Wednesday, March 15. During that meeting we set our goals for the year and reviewed the challenges we face in achieving those goals. We also finalized our volunteer covenant as you can read below. Like a mission statement specific to volunteers, this statement should inform your actions and reside in the back of your mind every time you serve at Heart to Heart.
We agree to foster a welcoming culture of kindness and respect that upholds the worth and dignity of every person, striving to listen with empathy, and use teamwork to carry out the mission and vision of Heart to Heart.
And what does the Lord
require of you
But to do justice,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly
with your God?
Micah 6:8 NKJ
Our mission at Heart to Heart is to respond to God’s commandment to love one another.
Our 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
In accordance with Federal law and U.S.D.A. policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, or disability.
If you are attending services at North, please look for the donation station sign in the parking lot and drop off your donations before you come inside! If you’re attending services at South, please look for the donation cart at Crane welcome center, where you can drop off your donation with our volunteer. If you prefer to make a monetary donation online, please click here.
The Pop-Up Pantry now has their own official page on the Heart to Heart website. Check it out at h2h.FCchurch.com/pup. The page includes information on the history, operations, and statistics of this service, as well as contact and sign-up information for volunteers. We encourage you to browse the page if you’re unfamiliar with this group!
Households served via Drive-Thru
Households served via Pop-Up
Please check to see when you can help, then use the button to access the Sign-Up Genius!
Monday, March 13
Tuesday, March 14
Wednesday, March 15
Thursday, March 16
Friday, March 17
The Mid-Ohio Food Collective offers regular training opportunities for food pantry staff and volunteers. For volunteers, the most useful trainings are FreshTrak and Food Safety. These trainings, specifically, will help you learn more about pantry operations and make you an even more effective volunteer! They also occasionally offer training on advocacy, and other topics that may be of interest to you.
Some of these classes are in person on the MOFC campus in Grove City. However, many are Zoom meetings, so you can participate from home. If you would like to take advantage of these opportunities to learn, please visit the Agency360 website for detailed information and links to sign up.
For most of the classes, you’ll need to sign up with our pantry name and ID:
Heart to Heart, Agency #1042
Upcoming Trainings
And what does the Lord
require of you
But to do justice,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly
with your God?
Micah 6:8 NKJ
Our mission at Heart to Heart is to respond to God’s commandment to love one another.
Our 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
In accordance with Federal law and U.S.D.A. policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, or disability.
In February, the Pop Up Pantry, delivered to the following sites:
Pop Up 2023 Monthly totals:
YTD: Individuals/families served: 314
On February 8th, Hope Resource Center honored 52 of their brothers and sisters who they lost to addiction or gun violence with a touching and hopeful Memorial Service. Their brothers and sisters were addicts/alcoholics who led complicated lives. Unfortunately, society is quick to place a label on them and dismiss them.
Our Pop Up Team went to the Memorial Service honoring all our friends and neighbors who have passed. It was heartbreaking to hear the names of those we served. Our Pop Up team is blessed to have known them. We continue to hold our Hope friends and neighbors in our prayers.
The work the Hope Resource Center does for so many is a gift. A gift of ‘Love’ – A gift of ‘new beginnings’ – A gift of ‘life’ – A gift of ‘Hope’. They are blessings and make this world a better place. We are honored to be a part of this caring organization.
Several of our team attended the Heart to Heart Volunteer Appreciation Dinner. It was good to get together and socialize with other volunteers. We appreciate all the work Amy and Yohan put into making Heart to Heart run successfully and their continued support of our Pop Up Pantry.
We are grateful for everyone who contributes to Heart to Heart and the Pop Up Pantry with their continued donations and service.
If you are attending services at North, please look for the donation station sign in the parking lot and drop off your donations before you come inside! If you’re attending services at South, please look for the donation cart at Crane welcome center, where you can drop off your donation with our volunteer. If you prefer to make a monetary donation online, please click here.
“My mom introduced me to volunteering at our local food bank in Toronto, Ontario when I was 13…” Read more >>
Households served via Drive-Thru
Households served via Pop-Up
Please click below to view the incoming order arriving Monday, March 6.
Please check to see when you can help, then use the button to access the Sign-Up Genius!
Monday, March 6
Tuesday, March 7
Wednesday, March 8
Thursday, March 9
Friday, March 10
The Mid-Ohio Food Collective offers regular training opportunities for food pantry staff and volunteers. For volunteers, the most useful trainings are FreshTrak and Food Safety. These trainings, specifically, will help you learn more about pantry operations and make you an even more effective volunteer! They also occasionally offer training on advocacy, and other topics that may be of interest to you.
Some of these classes are in person on the MOFC campus in Grove City. However, many are Zoom meetings, so you can participate from home. If you would like to take advantage of these opportunities to learn, please visit the Agency360 website for detailed information and links to sign up.
For most of the classes, you’ll need to sign up with our pantry name and ID:
Heart to Heart, Agency #1042
Upcoming Trainings
Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority’s RISE Center (Resident Initiatives for Success and Empowerment) provides coordinated access to supportive services for CMHA residents. The RISE Center’s Resource Roundup is a weekly collection of resources available in your community. Email alerts from the RISE Center are an easy way to stay up to date with available resources, events happening in your community, and other CMHA announcements. To subscribe, visit: tinyurl.com/CMHAResourceRoundup
In 2021, First Community’s Governing Board released their Strategic Plan, a report summarizing the plans for the immediate future of the church. On page 3 of the plan you will see one of the Operational Imperatives is to “Streamline our ministry governance system from councils to ministry teams and short-term, time-limited task forces.” While the pandemic and staffing changes stalled our progress, in the past few months we have made great strides and our team is officially formed. We are excited to introduce these five team members, who are committed volunteers that will represent Heart to Heart to the church as a mission ministry team. Over the next few months, we will work as a team to set goals to improve the operations of Heart to Heart food pantry. Expect to see regular updates about our progress in the church newsletters and Heart to Heart blog.
Andrea regularly volunteers in the drive-thru in various roles. She also volunteers to shop. Andrea is a church member who has been involved with the Young Adult Ministry member. Outside of Heart to Heart, she teaches music and serves as President of the Ohio Music Teacher’s Association, Central East District.
For over a year, Kevin has been a reliable volunteer for Heart to Heart, with increasing participation. He has volunteered to shop, stock, unload orders, does cold stocking, does pickups at MOFB and works in drive-thru, etc. Kevin has also volunteered to do odd jobs, such as helping to rebuild the exit ramp in the Annex.
Pat has volunteered at some time or another for every volunteer role at Heart to Heart. She is also a member of the church’s Women’s Guilds, leads Monday Night Meals, knits with Warm Welcome Knitters, works with Mats for the Homeless, and has been a member of the Mission Council. She has been a member of First Community for over 70 years.
In 2022, Rose took over as one of the Pop-Up Pantry leaders, which she leads with Melody Smiley, after having been a volunteer before the pandemic. She has been a member of Women’s Guild D, was in the choir and in her professional life, she worked as an intervention paraprofessional for Upper Arlington schools.
Melody has been a First Community member for over 55 years and volunteered in Sunday morning childcare for many of them. She has volunteered for Heart to Heart for over a decade, and was responsible for leading the stocking shift when the food pantry was located inside the Annex building. In response to the pandemic, Melody cofounded the Pop-Up Pantry with Janice Rook, and continues to lead the team with Rose Kandel.
In February, the Pop Up Pantry, delivered to the following sites:
Pop Up 2023 Monthly totals:
YTD: Individuals/families served: 314
On February 8th, Hope Resource Center honored 52 of their brothers and sisters who they lost to addiction or gun violence with a touching and hopeful Memorial Service. Their brothers and sisters were addicts/alcoholics who led complicated lives. Unfortunately, society is quick to place a label on them and dismiss them.
Our Pop Up Team went to the Memorial Service honoring all our friends and neighbors who have passed. It was heartbreaking to hear the names of those we served. Our Pop Up team is blessed to have known them. We continue to hold our Hope friends and neighbors in our prayers.
The work the Hope Resource Center does for so many is a gift. A gift of ‘Love’ – A gift of ‘new beginnings’ – A gift of ‘life’ – A gift of ‘Hope’. They are blessings and make this world a better place. We are honored to be a part of this caring organization.
Several of our team attended the Heart to Heart Volunteer Appreciation Dinner. It was good to get together and socialize with other volunteers. We appreciate all the work Amy and Yohan put into making Heart to Heart run successfully and their continued support of our Pop Up Pantry.
We are grateful for everyone who contributes to Heart to Heart and the Pop Up Pantry with their continued donations and service.
We received the following information in an email from HNO’s Jillian Russell, Hunger Advocacy Fellow.
“As Ohioans, we must guarantee that every child has enough food to eat each day. The Ohio legislature can do something by expanding school meals. Well-nourished minds prepare children to learn better, remain focused, and are better behaved. When you have stronger, smarter, healthier kids, you have a stronger, smarter, healthier, and more economically competitive state. We encourage our State Legislative leaders to expand school meals so that all children can receive their daily bread.”
If you’re interested in signing the petition, please click the image below.
Additionally, HNO is hosting the following upcoming events:
And what does the Lord
require of you
But to do justice,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly
with your God?
Micah 6:8 NKJ
Our mission at Heart to Heart is to respond to God’s commandment to love one another.
Our 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
In accordance with Federal law and U.S.D.A. policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, or disability.
“My mom introduced me to volunteering at our local food bank in Toronto, Ontario when I was 13. That experience taught me to always look for a way to give back and how one person can make a small difference in someone’s life with kindness.
Volunteering has always been something that brought a lot of joy to my life. Joining the Heart to Heart Thursday Drive-Thru closing shift team has been a true pleasure. Everyone I have worked with has been nothing but wonderful and I love that I get to work side by side each week with my new buddy, Pat Porterfield. Thank you, Heart to Heart.”
Service Statistics
Food Received (in pounds)