Weekly Update
Statistics
Households served via Drive-Thru
- 57 on Tuesday, September 6
- 50 on Thursday, September 8
Households served via Pop-Up
- 35 on Wednesday, September 7
Donations
Increasing demand makes it more difficult to keep certain items on our shelves. Please consider making a donation of these items to the food pantry: peanut butter and jelly, spaghetti noodles and sauce, pancake mix and syrup, cereal and shelf-stable milk. More info on how to make donations at h2h.fcchurch.com/donate
Volunteers
As students return to the classroom in the fall, we find ourselves in need of more volunteers. We especially need help during our drive-thru hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9am to noon.
A volunteer shift has been added to Thursday, September 15, 12:00-4:00pm. This shift will entail several projects led by Amy Caskie, as outlined in yesterday’s Upcoming Events email. If you’re interested, be prepared for physical labor, indoors and outdoors, across three buildings at First Community South. You can volunteer for any amount of time you’re willing and able. Just sign up and indicate your preference and availability in the comment field. If you’re coming for outdoor labor, we can provide tools, but you should bring gloves and be prepared to get dirty.
Thursday, September 15
12:00 pm – 4:00 pm (20)
FreshTrak Training
This workshop will provide the fundamentals to get started with FreshTrak at your agency. Participants with learn how to administer the intake process using FreshTrak and will be guided on best practices for developing an efficient process in registering your clients. For agencies already using FreshTrak, this workshop will be helpful as a refresher of the basics.
Ohio Benefits Training
- Participants will discuss ways to connect clients to social Benefits such as SNAP/Medicaid/ and OWF.
- Participants will take away how to submit SNAP/ Medicaid/ OWF benefits using Ohio Benefits Self Service Portal.
- Best tips and tricks in navigating common barriers to assisting individuals.
Volunteer of the Month
PUPdate
In August, the Pop Up Pantry, delivered to the following sites:
- Aug 3: Commons at Livingston – 35
- Aug 10: Hope Resource Center – 33
- Aug 15: South Park Apartment w/Franklinton Farms – 18
- Aug 17: Southpoint – 37
- Aug 24: Commons at Grant – 21
- Aug 25: Riverview International Center – 31
- August 31: Hope Resource Center – 35
Total served for the month of August: 210
2022 Monthly Totals:
- January: 161
- February: 159
- March: 154
- April: 162
- May: 162
- June: 225
- July: 187
- August: 210
YTD: 1,420 individuals/families served
This past month, Heart to Heart asked for 50+ filled backpacks, and to our surprise, we collected 148 filled backpacks. We thank all the individuals who contributed to this Backpack Project! The Pop Up Pantry delivered them to Riverview International Center. Within a few days, all 148 backpacks were distributed. As we were delivering the backpacks, several children were running to the van all smiles and excited! It was heartwarming to see their joy! Blessings all the way around!
Our Team would like to acknowledge our devoted van drivers: Boyce Lancaster, Les Sauer, Mark Tucker, Steve Young and Glenn Zook. They are all so willing to give of their time loading the van and driving all around Columbus to help us deliver to our many sites. They step in to help each other out driving when others need a week off, which is a big help to us. We are forever grateful for their time, dedication and service.
We are so grateful to all our regular volunteers who continue to show up week after week. With this said, we are still looking for more individuals who would like to come join our Pop Up Team. We typically begin Wednesdays at 11:00. We end around 12:45 if just bagging; 2:00 if traveling to the site. Heart to Heart and the Pop Up Team are always open to more volunteers.
Melody and I are continually blessed to have the support of First Community/Heart to Heart staff and all the dedicated volunteers who give so much of their time and energy.
Serving in Faith,
Rose Kandel and Melody Smiley
Volunteer Co-Leads
Pop Up Pantry, Heart to Heart
Upcoming Events
Kickoff Sunday at First Community! Please join us at either campus for worship. The Donna’s Donuts truck will be at our South campus before and after the 10am service.
Heart to Heart is closed next week for regular volunteer shifts and drive-thru service. We will use this time to deep clean and organize all our spaces, evaluate and update procedures, plan our program year among other things. To aid in the process of cleaning and organizing, we will not be accepting material donations next week. If you know of something that needs attention while we are closed, please send an email to Amy Caskie to make sure we take care of it at this time.
The Trading Post is having a sale through the end of the month!
All volunteers are asked to join us for this event at 6pm in the Weist Room at First Community South. This is an educational event to cover the topics of implicit bias, race, and civil rights. Staff will review with required civil rights training with all volunteers, after hearing from a guest speaker. This is also a great opportunity to come together for fellowship with volunteers you may not get to see very often. We request all regular volunteers attend this event for the compliance training required by Mid-Ohio Food Collective. Refreshments will be served. Please RSVP below.
First Community’s annual pet blessing on October 9 will also serve pet food donation drive for Heart to Heart. We would love to have a couple volunteers help out that day with donations. If you’re available, please email Yohan Kim to let him know!
Heart to Heart will be closed on October 10, but volunteer shifts will be added to the preceding Friday to accommodate the holiday.
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.