Weekly Update

• Tom Norman
• Loren VanDeusen
• Click here to be added to First Community prayer chain

On May 14, several Keller Williams Associates and family members joined us for their Annual RED Day Celebration. RED stands for Renew, Energize and Donate.  The Keller Williams Associates all over the world choose to “Give Where They Live” as part of this annual day of service each May.

Each year all the Keller Williams’ offices reach out to local organizations and/or individuals to find a project or projects within their community to assist, creating a massive one-day outreach of volunteering and impact in our local neighborhoods. Major thanks to Stacy McVey for making the contact between us and The Keller Williams Associates.

RED Day is built on the belief that people can and should come together to achieve extraordinary things to help others.  RED Day just happens to be a one-day expression of the constant state of the Keller Williams culture and displays the amazing impact a company can have when individuals come together to work as a team for the greater good of everyone.

As you can see in the photos below, the group assisted with landscaping, pre-packing bags, and serving clients. Thank you, Keller Williams Associates.

Click here to view the 8865-pound order we picked up this past Monday. Thank you to the volunteers who helped pick up and unload this large order despite the weather and three fallen trees on the grounds of First Community South near the annex!

Below you can see photos of volunteers working diligently behind the scenes to make Heart to Heart happen!

Update from Cheryl VanDeusen

Eight eager volunteers wore masks and brought their own tools last Thursday to weed, spread mulch, add soil and straighten irrigation lines in anticipation of planting the beds in the middle of May.

It felt good to be in the sunshine and pull tall weeds even while staying 6 feet away from each other. Our married volunteers come in handy when we need to do a two-person task in these infectious times!

Loren has pepper and tomato plants growing in our growing center in the basement and we have cabbage plants waiting in our small greenhouse. We are also on the lookout for collard plants at local nurseries.

We have a lot of donated seeds from our fellow master gardeners in the Pickaway County Master Gardener Volunteer organization where Loren and I do our OSU extension volunteering. We will use them and see how our clients at Heart to Heart like some different vegetables- last year they loved the okra – who knew!! Okra will be grown again this year!

Thanks to our volunteers that day and to all of you who will be helping someway in the future.

Message from Lamar Graham, Director

I recently watched A Place at The Table and found it to be really informative. When you get a chance, you should check it out. Share your thoughts with me if you would like. One of the highlights that I take away is our constant need to serve healthy nutritious meals.

With this, I’m extremely grateful for the work Diane Sturges is doing with our cooking classes, the work Cheryl and Loren VanDeusen do with the gardens at First Community North, and all of our garden connections through MidOhio Food Collective and otherwise.

When we go to Mid-Ohio Food Collective to pick up fresh produce on Mondays and Wednesdays, the National Guard is there to help. They load our vehicles with the produce to bring back to Heart to Heart to distribute to our clients. See the whole story on the NBC4i site.

It’s time to enroll or re-enroll your Shopper’s Plus Card online. You will need:

• • Your Shopper’s Plus Card number
  • Organization Number: TB926 FIRST COMMUNITY CHURCH

Through this program, First Community Missions earns more than $6000 per year which is then given to support our own food pantry, Heart to Heart.

You can enroll your new card at any point throughout the year, but current reward program members are asked to renew their support online every year.  To ensure your contributions are still benefiting First Community Church, please login to check your account before the end of the month!

In the period beginning February 1 and ending April 30, 2020, this program earned $1071.55 toward Heart to Heart with 259 households participating. Thank you!

• Tom Norman
• Loren VanDeusen
• Click here to be added to First Community prayer chain

Pictured below is Bobby Jenkins, one of our clients, showing off his new luggage. Most of our clients who are walking catch the number 5 bus and will walk 2 long blocks to get to us, not to mention the distance they will walk once they get off the bus. It’s a lot easier for them to transport food if they have access to rolling suitcases pictured in this photo.

Thank you to those who have donated luggage for our walkers. If you would like to donate more please email us.

UA Gives Back continues to give back. Diapers, Baby food, Dry Goods Oh My!

We were one of many pantries who received support through the generous gift that Jeff Bezos contributed to MidOhio Foodbank. Because of the grant, our entire April bill was covered, for a total of amount of $1,644.66!

Read the full story on the ABC 6 website.

Click here to view our 2019 Annual Report.

Do you know someone who needs a prayer or would you like to be placed on our Prayer Request list? Please click here to let us know.

Brooke Dionisio teaches Family and Consumer Sciences at Hastings Middle school. This year, some of her students worked on making old t-shirts into reusable bags for groceries and whatnot.  They were working to incorporate service to the community and the environment by repurposing. Earlier this week, she came by to drop off these bags for use by our clients.

Crissie Winner stopped by from Barrington Elementary to donate 146 lbs of snacks this week.

Kelly Cantwell and Elizabeth Blank from UA Gives Back donated 631 lbs of non-food and food items to Heart to Heart this week!

Click here to view our 2019 Annual Report.

Do you know someone who needs a prayer or would you like to be placed on our Prayer Request list? Please click here to let us know.

The first picture is Sandy Pfening and Margie Tarpy serving clients through our drive-in pantry. The last picture is Steve Young helping to unload over 7,900 lbs of food from MidOhio this past Monday.

Click to view the order from Mid-Ohio Foodbank for April 2020.

Update from Cheryl VanDeusen:

We have used some of the grant money to build the new pollinator bed that we had written the original grand for last fall. John Oberlin and Mike Cox, builders extraordinaries, built it and used dirt from our own compost pile to fill it. Loren had plants started in the basement and we will use state and CDC safety guidelines when we start this year’s crops. It is even more important that we get fresh produce grown for Heart to Heart.

Do you know someone who needs a prayer or would you like to be placed on our Prayer Request list? Please click here to let us know.

Amid the ever-changing news regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, we have established a page on the website where you will find regular updates as they are announced. A link to this page will be on the left side of the menu permanently. We will continue to post these announcements on social media and via email, as well.

Columbus Public Health has compiled a list of resources available to Franklin County residents during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We need help unloading lots of food this coming Monday from MidOhio Foodbank! Click here to sign up.

Please note: Everyone is now required to wear a mask or face covering of some sort. Please bring face mask with you. Gloves will be provided.

We would like to thank our new partner, Meijer, for their recent donations through Mid Ohio Food Collective!

Recently we had to move all the dry food stored in Lincoln Road Chapel from the basement to the main room, and some into the pantry. This project was a huge undertaking and would not have been possible without help from some strong volunteers! We owe a huge shoutout to Sam McCollum for bringing his brother Curtis, and some friends from Camp Akita to volunteer for this monumental task. Major thanks also to Wade Melnick President of the Tri-Village Rotary for bringing out members of his club along with their families. See before and after photos below.

Larry Miller
Tom Norman
John Oberlin
Bryan Smith
Charlie Vachris and Judy Long

Hello, Dedicated Volunteers,

I know some of you are worried during this time if you should commit more time to Heart to Heart physically or not. I want you to know that I understand completely if you are unable to volunteer during this time of Social Distancing. There will be no hard feelings if you need to take a step back and be close to family.

Lamar Graham
Heart to Heart Director

Amid the ever-changing news regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, we have established a page on the website where you will find regular updates as they are announced. A link to this page will be on the left side of the menu permanently. We will continue to post these announcements on social media and via email, as well.

Tom Norman

Click above to see the full video and view the entire story about Heart to Heart from NBC Channel 4.

Volunteers John and Sarah Oberlin and Kitty Rohrer serving clients though our drive in system.

Pictured here are Kitty Rohrer and John Oberlin taking care of our clients.

Stuck at home with nothing to do? Read this article for some ideas.

Announcements

Amid the ever-changing news regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, we have established a page on the website where you will find regular updates as they are announced. A link to this page will be on the left side of the menu permanently. We will continue to post these announcements on social media and via email, as well.

Five things you can do to help us at Heart to Heart:

1. Volunteer with us! Click the link below to sign up. If you aren’t able to volunteer physically maybe you can write encouraging cards.

2. Give funds. Please click button below to contribute directly to Heart to Heart. For every $1 we spend at Mid-Ohio Food Collective we can get $10 worth of groceries for distribution to our clients.

3. Take care of yourself. Remember, you can’t pour from an empty cup! Stay informed with accurate information on the Ohio Department of Health website here. If you have questions regarding Coronavirus/COVID-19 please call 1-833-4-ASK-ODH (1-833-427-5634)

4. Contribute food at 1944 W. First Ave in our bin outside the door. Please note:

• We are NOT accepting any food BEYOND the expiration date or BEYOND best used by date. The best times to donate food to our bin are Monday 9-10 am and Wednesday 3-4 pm.
• Due to possible exposure of COVID-19 through the usage of used plastic, paper, and reusable cloth, we are NO LONGER accepting any bag donations.

5. Pray for our world, country, community, and our families. If there was ever a time to pray, the time is now.

If you have any questions about Heart to Heart at this time, please call 614-488-0681 ext. 203

Hello Dedicated Volunteers,

I know some of you are worried during this time if you should commit more time to Heart to Heart physically or not. I want you to know that I understand completely if you are unable to volunteer during this time of Social Distancing. There will be no hard feelings if you need to take a step back and be close to family.

Lamar Graham
Heart to Heart Director

Announcements

Amid the ever-changing news regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, we have established a page on the website where you will find regular updates as they are announced. A link to this page will be on the left side of the menu permanently. When we have a new announcment it will appear highlighted in red to alert you to read more. We will continue to post these announcements on social media and via email, as well. Read the latest announcement from Director, Lamar Graham.

Tom Norman

In the month of February, we served

• 337 Households
• 201 Seniors
• 601 Adults
• 434 Children
• 1,236 Individuals

Click here for the full list of statistics from last month.

The spotlight is on Bob Argo for March. Click here to read the post.

This week was a busy yet productive one as we rolled out our new “Drive-Thru” system. We served 155 households! Normally, we serve between 100-160 households in a week. Thank you for all of your hard work and contributions. Please enjoy photos from this past week and stay tuned for more information in preparation for this coming week.

Preparations of pre-packaged groceries.

New drive-thru service in action.

Mental Health Resources

While we don’t like to think about it, with increased stress comes things like increased depression, increased domestic violence, and increased suicide. Please make sure you have the following numbers available to give people if they need them or if you feel you might need them yourself. Know there is always help, there are people to listen, and you are worth any effort. You matter to God and you certainly matter to us.

• NetCare Crisis Hotline (Mental Health Emergencies) 614- 276-2273
• National Suicide Prevention Hotline- 1-800-273-TALK
• If you are quarantined with an abuser, or someone you know is isolated in a dangerous home situation, please reach out to the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or chat at thehotline.org.

Additional Resources

Mid-Ohio Foodbank Updates and Resources

As we served this week we seen many people step up in a huge way! Many volunteers came to help us out on what was our first rodeo of our “Drive-Thru” system. We saw many people who were doing their morning run and/or walk stop to tell us thank you for continuing to serve our clients. Our clients were also super appreciative, telling us repeatedly, “Thank you for being here”.

As prepare for this coming week we at Heart to Heart would like to say to you, our wonderful volunteers and stakeholders: Thank you for being here. All of your support makes it possible for us to give our clients high-quality service.

We have received several inquiries about how folks can best help out during this uncertain time. These are some things you can do:

1. Give of your time volunteer with us! Click the link below to sign up. If you aren’t able to volunteer physically maybe you can write encouraging cards. We have lots of students who helps us with this throughout the year. Often our youth will write and/or draw fun, simple, cool, and witty ways to encourage our clients.
2. Give funds. Please see this link below to contribute directly to Heart to Heart. For every $1 we spend at MidOhio Foodbank we can get $10 worth of groceries for distribution to our clients.
3. Take care of yourself. Remember, you can’t pour from an empty cup! Stay informed with accurate information on the Ohio Department of Health website here. If you have questions regarding Coronavirus/COVID-19 please call 1-833-4-ASK-ODH (1-833-427-5634)
4. Lastly, pray. Pray for our world, country, community, and our families. If there was ever a time to pray, the time is now.

Thank you for your support as we get through this challenging time together.

For now, we plan to remain in our altered state of operation unless we are ordered to close our doors. In that event, we will inform the public via our website and social media platforms.

Cookie Donation

Kristin Unalan of Girl Scout Troop 1444 donated 107 boxes of cookies on Wednesday. This troop of third-graders are from Barrington Elementary in Upper Arlington.

Friends and family of Mary Garvin

Baby Quilts

This is photo of the Veda Hendricks family was taken at the pantry on Thursday. Christian is 4 months old and received baby quilt from the quiliting group today. They were so grateful.

Voter Registration

Pictured here are Deb Linville and Sally Kriska getting clients registered to vote on March 17.  Not only were they helping new voters register, but they assisted with change of address forms and checked polling locations for several clients. In just two weeks, they were able to help 34 clients.

Staying Healthy

We encourage everyone to review these basic tips for the prevention of illness:

• Wash your hands frequently—with soap and water and for at least 20 seconds.
• Sneeze or cough into the crook of your elbow or a tissue, not your hand.
• Wash immediately after coughing, sneezing or blowing your nose.
• Feel free to “bump elbows” or bow to one another, rather than hugging or shaking hands.
• Avoid touching your face, especially your mouth, nose and eyes, with
  unwashed hands.
• Regularly disinfect surfaces frequently touched including keyboards, desktops, elevator buttons and door knobs.
• Use hand sanitizer.
• Avoid close contact with someone who is sick.
• Stay home if you are sick!

Prevention at the Pantry

At Heart to Heart we are doing our part to prevent the spread of viruses. At the end of every day, volunteers wipe handles, chairs, light-switches, keyboard/mouse, etc. with alcohol-based sanitizing wipes.  We have also provided alcohol-based hand sanitizer in each of the rooms we regularly use.

We are asking and encouraging all volunteers who have a fever or feel ill to stay home. You should remain isolated at home until you are symptom/fever-free for 24 hours without the use of medication.

Donation Request

We would love to be able to send each client away with a dispenser of alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Please drop off these contributions at the donation stations at both church locations, or inside the annex building.

Mid-Ohio Foodbank Order

Click here to see the order we anticipate next week!

Thank you

Thank you to all our volunteers, donors, and community partners for their support of our mission.