Clients will only be allowed to visit Heart to Heart once every 30 days. We are so grateful for the financial and volunteer help that allowed us to lift this restriction during the pandemic. However, with the rising cost of food and supply chain issues, this change will allow Heart to Heart to continue providing service at the level to which our clients expect and deserve. This is a common policy among area pantries in an effort to control costs. Many clients have already been informed of the change and are adjusting accordingly. Paper notices will continue to be provided in their shopping bags through the end of January 2023, at least. Yohan will advise about how to handle clients who arrive before their 30 days are up.
All financial contributions made to Heart to Heart from November 1 through December 31 will be matched up to $20,000. With the increase in both demand and cost of food in recent months, the food pantry needs additional financial resources more than ever. Please know that your doubled donation will be doubly appreciated this year!
For the eighth year running, Jill and Duke Thomas have graciously made this matching pledge to support our mission to respond to God’s commandment to love one another. Heart to Heart began serving the community in 1986, and still exists today thanks to the foundation laid by its task force and early leaders, including Jill. We are eternally grateful for the Thomas family’s ongoing support of our mission.
Groups, families, and individuals are welcome to sponsor a family or families that request holiday assistance this year through the purchase of gifts for them. Sponsors will be asked to contact their sponsored family directly to get ideas for Christmas gifts and make arrangements for delivery or pick-up. Our dedicated volunteer and social worker extraordinaire, Kitty Rohrer, will get contact information and family make up from the clients, then match inquiring families with those looking to sponsor them. We will accept requests October 20 through December 9. After that date, all inquiries, both clients and sponsors, will be referred to other programs by our team of resource volunteers.
1. Contact us if you are interested in sponsoring a family this year. Please send an email indicating your preferences (if any) for:
2. Kitty will reply to your inquiry with a match. She will include the general family makeup, a contact name and phone number. Essentially, the service we provide is to match families seeking assistance with those willing to provide it.
3. You are responsible for making contact with the sponsored family. You can interview them to get their wishlists and needs. There will be no suggested expenditures for each family, as we would like sponsors to help in the way they best see fit.
4. Make arrangements with the sponsored family for pickup or delivery of the gifts. How, when and where this is accomplished is completely up to you! With safety and convenience in mind, we suggest you to meet your family in the parking lot of one of the church campuses.
If you have not made a connection with the family by December 9, please leave a message for or email Kitty Rohrer.
1. Contact us if you are interested having your family sponsored. Please send an email indicating the general makeup of your family, including:
2. Kitty will provide your family’s contact information and any details provided with a sponsor.
3. The sponsor will get in touch with you to discuss the family’s wishlists, etc. You will make arrangements directly with your sponsor for obtaining the gifts. With safety and convenience in mind, we suggest you to meet your family in the parking lot of one of the church campuses.
If you have not heard from your sponsor by December 9, please leave a message for or email Kitty Rohrer.
Every kid deserves a backpack and a new box of crayons to start the school year. Help us support our Heart to Heart food pantry families by donating new backpacks filled with school supplies to our School Supply Drive during all worship services on Sunday, August 7. Look for marked bins where your donations for kids in kindergarten to high school can be dropped off.
If you are unable to attend services on August 7, supplies can be dropped off in the Crane Welcome Center at South and the Rose Wing lobby at North August 1-5 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Our goal is to collect 50 backpacks to distribute to Heart to Heart clients before school starts.
The most requested school supplies across the grades are as follows:
Please remember that students Kindergarten through High School will be recipients of these donations. The schools we are serving have requested no disinfectant wipes be sent with school supplies this year.
Questions? Please contact Yohan Kim x203
Closed July 3 through July 5
We understand there is growing concern about the rise in COVID cases as Omicron sweeps through our community. We want to remind you of CDC guidelines to protect yourself from this virus. First Community and Heart to Heart have been erring on the side of extreme caution and we ask you to do the same, even though the CDC recommendations have become more lenient. For example,
When you are volunteering at Heart to Heart,
Please visit Columbus Public Health for more information about COVID online, including sites for vaccine clinics and testing.
We understand that these precautions are numerous and sometimes onerous. However, it is in our best interest to keep one another healthy! Please help us to do so by adhering to these recommendations. We pray for your health during this time of uncertainty.
“Jesus said to him… ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets.’” (Matthew 22: 35-40).
Heart to Heart will be closed in observance of these holidays, and the pantry will be closed for volunteer shifts. These are not regular service days for clients.
We will be closed for all client service hours and volunteer shifts on the following dates. Please plan accordingly.
Heart to Heart will make every attempt to remain open during regular business hours unless there is a Level 2 Snow Emergency in Franklin County, an active thunderstorm, or an official Tornado Warning in our area. In the event we are closed, we will make note on our voicemail, on our Facebook page and here on our webpage. Volunteers for the day will be notified via email as soon as a decision to close has been made.
Heart to Heart will make every attempt to remain open during regular business hours, unless Franklin County reaches a level 4 purple alert status. In the event we are closed, we will make note on our voicemail, on our Facebook page and on our webpage.
Heart to Heart does not distribute Thanksgiving Baskets in the pantry. Read more>>
Announcements will be made regarding our holiday assistance programs in October.
Please refer to LSS 211 (formerly HandsOn) for additional holiday assistance programs.
Once again, this year, our much-loved Christmas Presence program has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we have come up with an alternative to enable us to assist client families in need this holiday season.
Groups, families, and individuals are welcome to sponsor a family or families that request holiday assistance this year financially through the purchase of gifts for them. Sponsors will be asked to contact their sponsored family directly to get ideas for Christmas gifts and make arrangements for delivery or pick-up. There will be no suggested expenditures for each family, as we would like sponsors to help in the way they best see fit.
Clients who are in need of assistance this holiday season will be asked to notify Heart to Heart by phone or email to hearttoheart@fcchurch.com. Staff will get contact information and family make-up from the clients and pass the information along to our dedicated volunteer and social worker extraordinaire, Kitty Rohrer. Kitty will then match inquiring families with those looking to sponsor them.
We will accept sponsors until December 15 or until all families are matched! We will continue to accept client families through December 5. After that date, all inquiries, both clients and sponsors, will be referred to other programs by our team of resource volunteers. This small group answers emails and voicemails received through Heart to Heart’s resource line at 614-488-0681 x241. The group is made up of social workers and community advocates familiar with programs available to our clients.
We are eager to help our clients in need, but also cautious about large gatherings as the pandemic continues. We encourage both sponsor and sponsored families to follow appropriate social-distancing guidelines and wear masks, especially if unvaccinated. Hopefully, this effort will prove to be a sufficient alternative to Christmas Presence. We hope to continue the tradition of partnering with the Trading Post again next year!
If you have any questions about the program, please contact us at HearttoHeart@fcchurch.com.
For information about our holiday hours and closings, click here.
