Weekly Update

• 37 households served on Tuesday, November 10
• 5 households served on Wednesday, November 11
• 28 households served on Thursday, November 12
• 55 households served on Tuesday, November 17
• 40 households served on Thursday, November 19

Click here to be added to First Community prayer chain.

We have new shifts available! Until Thanksgiving, we will still staff volunteers for extended hours as our clients adjust to the new hours. Tuesday and Thursday shifts will be split into two parts 8:30 am-11 am and 11 am-1:30 pm. After Thanksgiving, we will shorten those shifts!

Remember to dress appropriately for outdoor work. Sign up online if you can volunteer this week.

We have adjusted stocking shifts to spread out the work over several smaller shifts to accommodate safety needs. We are asking all volunteers to review our COVID-19 Policy. Please do not come in if you are experiencing any symptoms of illness, and please give us as much notice as possible. You can delete your name from Sign Up Genius or email hearttoheart@FCchurch.com to let us know.

Rev. Kate Shaner will host an All-Volunteer Meeting via Zoom on December 15 at 7 pm. Everyone is encouraged to attend. Kate will update us on the changes happening at Heart to Heart and share our vision for the future. We will review volunteer expectations and responsibilities. Most importantly, many of us will get to put faces with names just by being together.

Mark your calendars for Tuesday, December 15 at 7 pm to join us live online. The meeting invitation is linked below, and we will continue to share on the blog and on social media until then.

We will be hosting a LIVE nativity on December 19 in the parking lot of First Community South! We are extending an exclusive invitation to the First Community staff and our Heart to Heart volunteers and their families to drive through the nativity from 1pm to 2pm. The nativity will remain open to everyone until 4pm. All visitors are asked to bring a donation of pet food for admission!

This Sunday, November 22, please join us online for virtual worship at FCchurch.com. After worship, we will hold a drive-through collection of donations from 12 to 1 pm in the parking lot of First Community South.  We will be set up to sell clearance Heart to Heart merchandise in the tents as well!

• We can no longer accept donations of used plastic grocery bags. Please do not bring them to the annex for donation.
• Do you know an organization that could regularly supply us with a donation of goods distribution? Perhaps your friend manages a pet store and would like to donate dog food. We would love to make a connection! We are especially interested in pet food, toilet paper, and diapers. Please contact us to make arrangements.
• If you would like to volunteer for Heart to Heart, but remain at home due to the pandemic, please contact us. We have a few jobs that could be done from the safety and comfort of your home, on the phone.
• Any handy people willing to help build a solid, smooth surface for the floor of the church van, please contact us.
• In response to COVID-19 recommendations, all van drivers will be required to follow cleaning and disinfecting routines going forward. These instructions will be posted inside the van.

Click here to read this week’s email from Rev. Kate Shaner.

• November 3, Tuesday: 24
• November 4, Wednesday: 34
• November 5, Thursday: 23

We have new shifts available! Until Thanksgiving, we will still staff volunteers for extended hours as our clients adjust to the new hours. Tuesday and Thursday shifts will be split into two parts 8:30 am-11:00 am and 11:00 am-1:30 pm. After Thanksgiving, we will shorten those shifts! Remember to dress appropriately for outdoor work. Sign up online if you can volunteer this week.

Click here to be added to First Community prayer chain.

The Pop Up Pantry continues to serve clients by taking needed food directly to clients and their families in their local communities.  During October, food was distributed every Wednesday at the following agency sites:

• October 7:   Commons at Livingston-34 clients
• October 14:  Southpoint Apartments-37 clients
• October 21:  Commons at Grant-40 clients
• October 28:  Commons at Livingston-40 clients

Our number of clients and families served continued to increase in October:

•  October      151
•  September 144
•  August        123
•  July              98

Our Pop Up Pantry team continues to do an outstanding job of facilitating a safe working environment by bagging food outside, limiting our number of volunteers, maintaining physical distancing, masking, and hand hygiene.  We are fortunate to have the use of one of the church vans and a volunteer driver so that we can safely deliver our food to the designated site after bagging is completed. We’re thankful for the continued assistance of our Share and Learn Garden and for the support of H2H in providing fresh produce in addition to the dry food items served to our Pop Up Pantry clients. We’re also grateful to the Monday Meals for the Homeless team for sharing bread and dessert items for our clients.

With winter upon us and the rapid growth of COVID-19 infections, the food insecurity needs of families are continuing to increase along with health, safety, and economic concerns.  The Pop Up Pantry team is working to expand our outreach initiative to additional agencies within the Columbus community.  We continue to be blessed by the opportunity to serve others as God calls us to do.

We will be hosting a LIVE nativity on December 19 in the parking lot of First Community South! We are extending an exclusive invitation to the First Community staff and our Heart to Heart volunteers and their families to drive through the nativity from 2pm to 3pm. The nativity will remain open to everyone until 5pm. We will provide more information as it becomes available.

• We can no longer accept donations of used plastic grocery bags. Please do not bring them to the annex for donation.
• If you would like to volunteer for Heart to Heart, but remain at home due to the pandemic, please contact us. We have a few jobs that could be done from the safety and comfort of your home, on the phone.
• If you’re interested in helping us with our semi-regular monthly pickup from Penzey’s Spices, please contact us. We will put you in touch with their representative to make arrangements.
• Do you know an organization that could regularly supply us with a donation of goods distribution? Perhaps your friend manages a pet store and would like to donate dog food. We would love to make a connection! We are especially interested in pet food, toilet paper, and diapers. Please contact us to make arrangements.
• We are going to start logging incoming Direct Retail Pickups online. If you’re volunteering during the delivery of a donation from one of our retail partners, you may be asked to do record this. Help will be available on-site, and there will be printed instructions available. However, if you’re interested in learning how to use the program, please click through the slideshow below.

As part of our agreement with Mid-Ohio Food Collective, we must maintain certain standards. One of these is Civil Rights training for all of our volunteers. All volunteers will be required to complete this online training. There are three steps to this process.

1. Take the free online training course available here.
2. Complete the quiz at the end of the slideshow.
3. Use this online form to let us at Heart to Heart know you have completed your training, so we can verify with Mid-Ohio Food Collective. Please note you are not required to login as a First Community member to complete this step.

We are trying to streamline our communications at Heart to Heart. We want to make sure you’re getting all the information you want, and only the information you want. In order to better serve this goal, we have created and begun to use new email distribution lists. Please click below to sign up for the appropriate email list(s).

Dear Heart to Heart Volunteers,

We are grateful for your willingness to share your time at the Heart to Heart Food Pantry during this pandemic. The work we do is very important to the community and keeping it operational and safe are our utmost priorities at this time.

We want to remind you of the following:

Please do NOT come to volunteer at Heart to Heart if you have:

• symptoms of illness
• a fever or a cough
• been in contact with someone who has been ill or has a fever or cough
• have been in contact with someone who has tested positive COVID-19 in the last 30 days.

BEFORE you enter the church property (while you are still in your car), please do the following:

• Put on your face mask.
• Use hand sanitizer.

When on church property:

• Follow check-in procedures and take your temperature.
• Keep face mask on at all times.
• Observe social distancing.

If, at any time, you (or someone in your household) test positive for COVID-19, you must notify us immediately, as there are protocols and safety measures to complete if a person testing positive was on the property.

Thank you for all the work you do.

• October 27, Tuesday: 34
• October 28, Wednesday: 40
• October 29, Thursday: 34

We have new shifts available!

Until Thanksgiving, we will still staff volunteers for extended hours as our clients adjust to the new hours. Tuesday and Thursday shifts will be split into two parts 8:30 am-11:00 am and 11:00 am-1:30 pm. After Thanksgiving, we will shorten those shifts! Remember to dress appropriately for outdoor work. Sign up online if you can volunteer this week.

Volunteers and clients alike celebrated Halloween this week. Dressed in costume, volunteers included a bag of treats (no tricks!) for each client that visited.

As part of our agreement with Mid-Ohio Food Collective, we must maintain certain standards. One of these is Civil Rights training for all of our volunteers. All volunteers will be required to complete this online training. There are three steps to this process.

1. Take the free online training course available here.
2. Complete the quiz at the end of the slideshow.
3. Use this online form to let us at Heart to Heart know you have completed your training, so we can verify with Mid-Ohio Food Collective. Please note you are not required to login as a First Community member to complete this step.

Are you a volunteer interested in learning how to use PantryTrak from a representative at Mid-Ohio Food Collective?  Sign up to take the class online Wednesday, November 4th, 4:00 pm -5:30 pm.

Are you checking in daily when you arrive to volunteer? Everyone who comes to Heart to Heart to volunteer should be checking in at the volunteer stand in the hallway. You will need to take your temperature and log it with your name and contact information in the book provided. This requirement helps keep everyone safe.

If you volunteer to pick up donations and drop them off at Heart to Heart at any time during the week, you should have received an email from Amy Caskie on Friday. If you did not receive an email with information about an access code, please contact Amy immediately via email.

Volunteers receiving donations in the pantry will soon receive training on logging incoming donations online! This process will help us save time and paper by skipping the written record and manual logging altogether. You may have noticed we have new iPads at Heart to Heart, one dedicated entirely to this. If you’re interested in learning about it this week, touch base with Kate! A more formal training slideshow will be available soon.

Your social media presence can help Heart to Heart be more successful!

Do you follow us on Facebook and Instagram? If so, when you see a post that might apply to your friends or family, click to share it with your followers. Whether it’s an article on hunger or a plea for volunteers, your share means we reach more people with the information we are trying to share. You can encourage other folks to follow and share, as well!

Social media is usually the most efficient way for us to communicate because one post can reach such a large audience in a short time.

Facebook                                                  Instagram

Social media not your jam? Tell us how can we keep in touch!

We are trying to streamline our communications at Heart to Heart. We want to make sure you’re getting all the information you want, and only the information you want. In order to better serve this goal, we will be creating new email distributions lists and will implement their use beginning October 10. Please click below to sign up for the appropriate email list(s).

• October 20, Tuesday: 46
• October 21, Wednesday: 32
• October 22, Thursday: 26

Please sign up online if you can volunteer this week! We especially need help for these shifts:

• Tuesday 10:30 am – 1:45 pm
• Thursday 10:30 am – 1:45 pm

All volunteers are encouraged to wear their Halloween costumes from October 26 through October 30 when they come to volunteer at Heart to Heart. Make the day a little more fun by dressing up, but please make sure you can safely move in the costume!

As part of our agreement with Mid-Ohio Food Collective, we must maintain certain standards. One of these is Civil Rights training for all of our volunteers. All volunteers will be required to complete this online training. There are three steps to this process.

1. Take the free online training course available here.
2. Complete the quiz at the end of the slideshow.
3. Use this online form to let us at Heart to Heart know you have completed your training, so we can verify with Mid-Ohio Food Collective. Please note you are not required to login as a First Community member to complete this step.

We are in the midst of planning additional drive-thru pantry hours on Wednesday evenings. Evening hours will allow both clients and volunteers to visit the pantry outside of the typical workday.

Rev. Sarah Kientz, Minister to Camp Akita & Young Adults, will oversee the Wednesday evening pantry, which will begin in November. She is currently looking for volunteers who are interested in serving with her. Here’s how to help:

1. Indicate your interest in helping on Wednesday evenings so Sarah can follow up with you. Click here
2. Volunteer at Heart to Heart during an existing shift. This will help you become familiar with the pantry before our new shift. Sign up here.
3. Complete PantryTrak training. These training sessions (on Zoom) are about the client check-in process.
4. Complete online Civil Rights Training. This is a short slideshow followed by a quiz online to ensure our compliance with Mid-Ohio Foodbank.
5. Spread the word. The more people who are interested in helping on Wednesday evenings, the more prepared we will be in November!

If you have additional questions, please reach out to Sarah. Thank you!

Are you a volunteer interested in learning how to use PantryTrak from a representative at Mid-Ohio Food Collective? Sign up to take the class online Wednesday, November 4th, 4:00 pm -5:30 pm.

Your social media presence can help Heart to Heart be more successful!

Do you follow us on Facebook and Instagram? If so, when you see a post that might apply to your friends or family, click to share it with your followers. Whether it’s an article on hunger or a plea for volunteers, your share means we reach more people with the information we are trying to share. You can encourage other folks to follow and share, as well!

Social media is usually the most efficient way for us to communicate because one post can reach such a large audience in a short time.

Facebook                                                  Instagram

Social media not your jam? Tell us how can we keep in touch!

We are trying to streamline our communications at Heart to Heart. We want to make sure you’re getting all the information you want, and only the information you want. In order to better serve this goal, we will be creating new email distributions lists and will implement their use beginning October 10. Please click below to sign up for the appropriate email list(s).

• October 13, Tuesday: 46
• October 14, Wednesday: 32
• October 15, Thursday: 26

Please sign up online if you can volunteer this week! We especially need help for these shifts:

• Tuesday 12 – 1:45 pm
• Wednesday 3 – 4:30 pm
• Thursday 10:30 am – 1:45 pm

We are in the midst of planning additional drive-thru pantry hours on Wednesday evenings. Evening hours will allow both clients and volunteers to visit the pantry outside of the typical workday.

Rev. Sarah Kientz, Minister to Camp Akita & Young Adults, will oversee the Wednesday evening pantry, which will begin in November. She is currently looking for volunteers who are interested in serving with her. Here’s how to help:

1. Indicate your interest in helping on Wednesday evenings so Sarah can follow up with you. Click here
2. Volunteer at Heart to Heart during an existing shift. This will help you become familiar with the pantry before our new shift. Sign up here.
3. Complete PantryTrak training. These training sessions (on Zoom) are about the client check-in process.
4. Complete online Civil Rights Training. This is a short slideshow followed by a quiz online to ensure our compliance with Mid-Ohio Foodbank.
5. Spread the word. The more people who are interested in helping on Wednesday evenings, the more prepared we will be in November!

If you have additional questions, please reach out to Sarah. Thank you!

As part of our agreement with Mid-Ohio Food Collective, we must maintain certain standards. One of these is Civil Rights training for all of our volunteers. All volunteers will be required to complete this online training. There are three steps to this process.

1. Take the free online training course available here.
2. Complete the quiz at the end of the slideshow.
3. Use this online form to let us at Heart to Heart know you have completed your training, so we can verify with Mid-Ohio Food Collective. Please note you are not required to login as a First Community member to complete this step.

Are you a volunteer interested in learning how to use PantryTrak from a representative at Mid-Ohio Food Collective?

Click one of the links below to sign up for one of three virtual training sessions:

• • Wednesday, October 14th, 9:00am – 10:30am
  • Wednesday, November 4th, 4:00pm -5:30pm

Your social media presence can help Heart to Heart be more successful!

Do you follow us on Facebook and Instagram? If so, when you see a post that might apply to your friends or family, click to share it with your followers. Whether it’s an article on hunger or a plea for volunteers, your share means we reach more people with the information we are trying to share. You can encourage other folks to follow and share, as well!

Social media is usually the most efficient way for us to communicate because one post can reach such a large audience in a short time.

Facebook                                                  Instagram

Social media not your jam? Tell us how can we keep in touch!

We are trying to streamline our communications at Heart to Heart. We want to make sure you’re getting all the information you want, and only the information you want. In order to better serve this goal, we will be creating new email distributions lists and will implement their use beginning October 10. Please click below to sign up for the appropriate email list(s).

• October 6, Tuesday: 42
• October 7, Wednesday: 37
• October 8, Thursday: 25

Due to our hiatus, September had only 6 service days.

• Households Served: 409
• Seniors Served: 178
• Adults Served: 617
• Children Served: 400
• Individuals Served: 1195
• Meals Served: 10,755

Please sign up online if you can volunteer next week! We especially need help for these shifts:

• Tuesday 12 – 1:45 pm
• Wednesday 3 – 4:30 pm
• Thursday 10:30 am – 1:45 pm

As part of our agreement with Mid-Ohio Food Collective, we must maintain certain standards. One of these is Civil Rights training for all of our volunteers. All volunteers will be required to complete this online training. There are three steps to this process.

1. Take the free online training course available here.
2. Complete the quiz at the end of the slideshow.
3. Use this online form to let us at Heart to Heart know you have completed your training, so we can verify with Mid-Ohio Food Collective. Please note you are not required to login as a First Community member to complete this step.

Your social media presence can help Heart to Heart be more successful!

Do you follow us on Facebook and Instagram? If so, when you see a post that might apply to your friends or family, click to share it with your followers. Whether it’s an article on hunger or a plea for volunteers, your share means we reach more people with the information we are trying to share. You can encourage other folks to follow and share, as well!

Social media is usually the most efficient way for us to communicate because one post can reach such a large audience in a short time.

Facebook                                                  Instagram

Social media not your jam? Tell us how can we keep in touch!

We are trying to streamline our communications at Heart to Heart. We want to make sure you’re getting all the information you want, and only the information you want. In order to better serve this goal, we will be creating new email distributions lists and will implement their use beginning October 10. Please click below to sign up for the appropriate email list(s).

Are you a volunteer interested in learning how to use PantryTrak from a representative at Mid-Ohio Food Collective?

Click one of the links below to sign up for one of three virtual training sessions:

• • Wednesday, October 14th, 9:00am – 10:30am
  • Wednesday, November 4th, 4:00pm -5:30pm

September 29, Tuesday: 43 households
October 1, Thursday: 49 households

Are you a volunteer interested in learning how to use PantryTrak from a representative at Mid-Ohio Food Collective?

Click one of the links below to sign up for one of three virtual training sessions:

• • Tuesday, October 6th, 1:30pm – 3:00pm
    (Sign Up before Monday morning!)
  • Wednesday, October 14th, 9:00am – 10:30am
  • Wednesday, November 4th, 4:00pm -5:30pm

Please view the Sign Up Genius to see if you can volunteer next week. Below is a summary of the assistance we still need:

• Tuesday we need folks to volunteer during pantry hours. Shifts are open from 9 am to 1:45 pm.
• We need help with Target pickups on Wednesday and Thursday mornings at 9 am.
• If you’re an early riser, consider the pickups on Monday at Mid-Ohio or Friday at Giant Eagle.
• Help us stock Friday morning at 10 am and leave just in time for lunch!

We are trying to streamline our communications at Heart to Heart. We want to make sure you’re getting all the information you want, and only the information you want. In order to better serve this goal, we will be creating new email distributions lists and will implement their use beginning October 10. Please click below to sign up for the appropriate email list(s).

September 22, Tuesday: 58
September 23, Pop-Up: 42
September 24, Thursday: 48

Please read this update from volunteer leaders Janice Rook and Melody Smiley.

The Pop Up Pantry continued to successfully serve clients in their local communities during September.  Food was distributed to clients/families at the following agency sites:

• September 2:    Commons at Livingston, 29 households
• September 9:    Southpoint Apartments, 35 households
• September 16:  Commons at Grant, 40 households
• September 23:  Commons at Buckingham, 40 households

144 clients/families were served in September, an increase of 21 over those served in August.

Our team of three volunteers skillfully bagged food each Wednesday during the month. We were able to facilitate a safe working environment by bagging food outside, limiting our number of volunteers, maintaining physical distancing, masking, and hand hygiene. Our volunteer van drivers have assisted greatly in loading the food in the van after bagging is completed and delivering it to the designated site.

We’re thankful this month for the assistance of our Share and Learn Garden and the Seeds of Hope Garden in providing us with the ability to add fresh produce to the dry food items served to our Pop Up Pantry clients. We’re also grateful to Carol Baker and the Monday Meals for the Homeless team for sharing bread and dessert items with our clients.

Our entire team of dedicated volunteers worked diligently to ensure the needs of our clients were met each week.  Those volunteering during September were Kitty Rohrer, Kathleen Hatcher, Rose Kandel, Carla Edlefson, Glen Zook, Steve Young, Mark Tucker and Boyce Lancaster. Our clients and their agency contacts/case managers expressed much appreciation for the efforts of our team.

The Pop Up Pantry team looks forward to continuing to grow this outreach initiative by serving more clients with food insecurity needs and in expanding our work with other community agencies and sites. We are blessed by the opportunity to further the mission of Heart to Heart and our church in serving others as God calls us to do.

As part of our agreement with Mid-Ohio Food Collective, we must maintain certain standards. One of these is Civil Rights training for all of our volunteers. All volunteers are required to complete this online training. There are three steps to this process.

1. Take the free online training course available here.
2. Complete the quiz at the end of the slideshow.
3. Use this online form to let us at Heart to Heart know you have completed your training, so we can verify with Mid-Ohio Food Collective. Please note you are not required to login as a First Community member to complete this step.

Are you interested in being a shift leader? Please let us know.

Volunteers interested in being shift leaders will need to complete the online Food Safety course. The cost to complete the course and receive certification is $15. Training is available on the ServSafe website. Follow the instructions on their site to purchase the course and take the assessment online. If you’re interested in the training, but the cost of the course is burdensome, please send us an email so we can purchase the course online and send you the information to access it.

Are you a volunteer interested in learning how to use PantryTrak from a representative at Mid-Ohio Food Collective?

Click one of the links below to sign up for one of three virtual training sessions:

• • Tuesday, October 6th, 1:30pm – 3:00pm
  • Wednesday, October 14th, 9:00am – 10:30am
  • Wednesday, November 4th, 4:00pm -5:30pm

Progress is being made in Lincoln Road Chapel to accommodate our plans to move operations into the building as the weather turns colder.

• Mold inspector has visited and given recommendations
• Dumpster was removed from parking lot on Friday
• Received a proposal with estimate to replace some of the flooring
• Contractor visited and working on proposal for interior work including replacing drywall, plasterwork, stonework, windows, etc.
• Contractor working on proposal for outdoor wheelchair ramp

September 16 (Pop-Up): 40 households served

These slides indicate how our service numbers have changed over time. Click to enlarge each graph to see details.

We will resume our services the week of September 21. To volunteer for those shifts, please make sure you have completed the Civil Rights training (see below), then use the Sign-Up Genius to let us know you are coming. If you are a minor, we must have a Waiver Form on file for you.

Please note: We must adhere to CDC guidelines for all of our volunteer shifts. In order to do that, we cannot accept volunteer walk-ins and the number of volunteers per shift will be limited. We hope this is a temporary solution to a temporary problem and we ask for grace as we work together to figure this out.

• Take the online civil rights training course here>>
• Verify you have completed the course using this form>>
• Mark your calendar for October 6 at 1:30pm for PantryTrak training via Zoom. This training will be conducted by Mid-Ohio Food Collective. Volunteer shift leaders on Tuesdays and Thursdays will be required to take this training. Use the Sign-Up Genius to indicate your interest and you will be sent a link to the Zoom prior to the meeting date.
• Let us know if you’re interested in being a volunteer shift leader via email>>
• All shift leaders can take the online food safety training for $15, and send us a PDF of their completion certificate. The course is called Food Handler (level 1) and you will follow the instructions on the ServSafe website to purchase the course. Please contact us if the cost of the course will prevent you from completing it and we will make arrangments.
• Register your Kroger card for Community Rewards which earns money for Heart to Heart when you grocery shop. More info here>>
•  To sign up for upcoming volunteer shifts click here>>

We are working with our business office to provide more information and deeper transparency to all those that support Heart to Heart. Please let us know if there is specific information you are looking for, and we will do our best to provide accurate information. Click the image below to view the chart showing the change in our total income and expenses over time.

We are planning for the colder weather and trying to anticipate our volunteer needs as we move indoors. Please participate in the following survey to share your opinion and willingness to return to volunteering in light of the pandemic.

We are trying to streamline our communications at Heart to Heart. We want to make sure you’re getting all the information you want, and only the information you want. In order to better serve this goal, we will be creating new email distributions lists and will implement their use beginning October 1. Please click below to sign up for the appropriate email list(s).