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Moment for Mission
Heart to Heart
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by Rick Greene
In 1986, a group of First Community Church members gathered to develop a congregation-wide mission project to put their faith into action. As a result, Project Adelphos was established connecting volunteers with needs in the community.
The name was changed to Heart to Heart (H2H) to better reflect the goal of uniting individuals one-on-one. Through the commitment and passion of FCC members, volunteers, and the local community, H2H has grown from a congregational mission to a valuable community resource.
The mission of H2H is to respond to God’s commandment to love one another. Its vision 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. It is found that the food pantry has its food is quality, statistics show that most of the clients are currently working either full-time or part-time, and only come to visit when they really need the food.
H2H is primarily an open-choice food pantry serving clients in need of food assistance. For each $1 donated, it is able to distribute $9.50 worth of groceries or enough for 4.5 meals. For calendar year 2021, it served 5,179 households including 2,635 seniors (age 60+), 8,641 adults (18-59), and 6,411 children (birth – 17) for a total of 17,687 individuals.
Over the years, H2H has evolved with the changing times in Central Ohio. A newer activity is a Pop-Up Pantry. Volunteers meet at the First Community South pantry location to complete the bagging of food and loading into the Church van. They then proceed to the site location to distribute pre-packaged food to clients by loading directly into their cars or at a pre-arranged distribution point.
First Community Church and the surrounding area provides the needed volunteers for many activities related to H2H including the food pantry, stocking, bagging, Pop-Up Pantry, and pickup donations (Giant Eagle, Mid-Ohio Foodbank, Marc’s, etc.). Besides many partnerships within First Community (e.g., Share and Learn Gardens, featured in the May issue of On a Mission!), this group also partners with community organizations such as schools, local charitable, other churches, and non-for-profit groups.
More in-depth information about Heart to Heart activities and volunteering can be located at https://h2h.fcchurch.com/.
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Heart to Heart Volunteer Education Event
by Amy Caskie
On Thursday evening, September 22, about 30 of us gathered in the Weist Room at First Community South for an introductory training on intersectionality, equity, implicit bias, microaggressions and trauma-informed care.
The evening started with a prayer from Dr. Glen Miles and introductions by Seth Stearns, Executive Director of Operations at First Community. We were then guided through an enlightening activity called a Privilege Walk. After this powerful experience, we learned about the concepts in a presentation by Olivia and her guest presenter, Shakarra Touray. After their presentation concluded, Yohan reviewed our basic Civil Rights guidelines for operating under the USDA.
Included is a reflective excerpt from Yohan Kim's weekly email to volunteers:
We’d like to thank Olivia Montgomery and Shakarra Touray for conducting introductory training on equity, bias, race, and intersectionality. It included a privilege walk that seemed to be illuminating to many of us. One may wonder what any of that has to do with volunteering to hand out food at a pantry. If we pause and think about the different types of people that we interact with in just a single Drive-Thru, it runs the gamut of ethnicities, nationalities, religions, genders, sexualities, cultures, languages, food preferences, life experiences, etc. The same goes for the volunteers and employees who unite in serving them. Our training was conducted in a room with people of different ages, genders, ethnicities, and levels of able-bodiedness. There were Protestants, Catholics, and some who might not be religious at all.
The evening was informative and enlightening and one we will not soon forget. This was a good starting point to start a larger conversation within our community and we are looking forward to opportunities to do this in the near future.
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Back Bay Mission
Hygiene Kit Project and Trip
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by Amy Caskie
Thank you to all those who donated to the Back Bay Mission Hygiene Kit drive over the past few weeks. With the help of the Midweek Missions students and staff, we were able to assemble 25 hygiene kits for the Back Bay mission. They will be shipped to Biloxi, Mississippi next week!
We are looking to send a group of volunteers on a mission trip to Back Bay in January 2023. If you're interested in the trip, please send me an email to learn more. We need at least 10 volunteers to make the trip possible. It is fairly easy mission work, with a variety of ability levels. If you've never been on a mission trip before, it's a great (inexpensive) first experience.
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Monday Night Meals
2023 Sign-Up Schedule Available
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by Pat Porterfield
Volunteering for these meals has become very important to me. My inspiration comes from Carol Baker, who organized and oversaw this mission for over 30 years.
We will be needing volunteers for the coming year for the third Monday of each month to prepare or purchase the food and then deliver it to the shelter. These volunteers can decide if they will serve the meals or just deliver them, which takes about 90 minutes to complete is all the time involved.
These men and boys, yes boys too, are grateful for the meals. We are thanked over and over. Please consider this mission, it takes so little time when a group comes together. I would be available to assist in anyway. Thanks for giving me this opportunity to share my thoughts.
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In the Garden
Share and Learn Garden Updates
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The Share and Learn Garden at First Community North sits on the property behind the Mary Evans Child Development Center. All the produce grown in the garden comes directly to Heart to Heart. The garden is managed and harvested by a small but mighty and fun group of volunteers. Master Gardeners Cheryl and Loren VanDeusen, and their daughter, Kate Paulson, are the group's leaders. Kate has been sending weekly emails with beautiful photos since before the growing season began. The group has reconvened again every Tuesday morning, weather permitting.
We receive weekly updates from Kate Paulson. Below we share excerpts from those recent emails.
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September 4, 2022
Hi all!
We will have a quick session Tuesday at 9am.
Tomatoes, peppers, okra and collards will be ready to harvest.
I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend!
Kate Paulson
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September 10, 2022
Hello friends & gardeners!
The Heart to Heart pantry is closed this entire week, and is not accepting donations. Therefore, we will NOT have a work session.
We ask that teachers, staff and parents help themselves to the tomatoes and zinnias. Pick and cut away! (Fun fact: zinnias need to be cut regularly to encourage more blooms!)
Looking ahead, the new concrete slab for the new large storage shed has been poured and looks fantastic! The shed assembly (and delivery) will happen in the near future.
I ordered additional garden soil to add to the former cucumber bed and herb beds. Soil will be delivered September 19.
Soil will be added and cabbage plants planted at September 20 work session (where the cucumbers were).
Garlic will be planted in the existing herb bed (after soil is added). The herbs will be re-located to large pots. This will happen around Halloween.
As a side note, I placed a sign and bin at the Wallace Gardens in Grandview asking for donations of extra produce. Fingers crossed we get some!!!
Hope everyone has a nice week off!
Kate
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September 17, 2022
Hello gardeners & friends,
Tuesday we are back at it again!
I anticipate the usual harvest of collard greens, peppers, okra and tomatoes. I sincerely hope teachers, staff and parents harvested tomatoes and zinnia flowers this week as the pantry was closed.
I checked on the garden this week, and there were a few peppers and okra ready. I turned the watering system back on as we it has been awhile since the last rain and has been unseasonably hot.
Soil will be delivered Monday afternoon. Depending on whether Loren found cabbage plants, we will need to add soil to the bed where cucumbers were and plant the new plants. The soil will be needed around Halloween when we plant the garlic and extra onions to overwinter.
Looking ahead this fall, the new garden shed will be ordered soon and will need assembled. The new shed will provide space for our tomato cages and supplies. The larger shed will make a huge difference!
I hope everyone had a nice week. See you Tuesday.
Kate
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September 25, 2022
Hi gardeners,
The cabbage 🥬 we planted last week is doing well. The 60 bags of soil was delivered and is ready to use for the garlic bed in a month.
I am working on finding a company to haul the 13 pallets and pallet parts we have away at no cost. If anyone has a suggestion…let me know!
This week we will harvest peppers, tomatoes, collards and okra.
See you Tuesday!
Kate
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Update
The Share and Learn Garden was awarded a grant by the Mission Council to cover the cost of pouring a concrete slab and constructing a larger shed on the property of First Community North.
The slab was poured, the shed was ordered and it arrived in the back parking lot on Monday, September 26. Volunteers will put the shed together in October, just in time to store garden supplies over the colder months.
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Deep Griha
Update from India
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On Tuesday, September 27, the Mission Council was joined via Zoom by Ashlesha Onawale, Director of Deep Griha in Pune, India. First Community's support and relationship with their mission is longstanding.
Ashlesha gave the council an update on how the mission has expanded over the years. With multiple locations and countless ministries, the council was astounded by the breadth and depth of their positive influence throughout the area.
Below, you can review the slideshow that Ashlesha presented to the council, which gives a brief overview of their mission projects.
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Good Neighbor Picnic
Used Eyeglasses Distribution
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by Charlie Jacob
As many know, we collect eyeglasses. The Good Neighbor Picnic was Saturday, September 24. They have an annual picnic to provide aid to Columbus homeless people. Yesterday, we gave out reader glasses, sunglasses, and glasses cases.
Lydia Dowler is the President of the Good Neighbor Picnic. I sent an email to Lydia (on Saturday):
Lydia,
We began giving out glasses by 10:15 this morning. We gave out 130 readers, 30 sunglasses, and 100 glasses cases. Everyone was courteous and expressed thanks for the glasses.
Probably, the most rewarding was fitting a 10 or 11 year old boy. He had no intention of getting reader glasses. His mom was taking lots of time to decide what strength reader she needed. Plus, she wanted to pick a stylish pair. Her son slipped on a pair of glasses. They were not the correct strength. However, he tried a couple different strengths. He realized that his vision could be improved. The look we saw, on his face, was one of surprise. He had no idea how much more clearly the glasses would make him see.
Charlie and Ann Jacob
She responded:
Good Morning Charles,
Thanks so much for the notes, it is a pleasure to have you at our event. It is so helpful to our guest to be able to receive glasses. The story about the young boy is amazing, thanks for sharing, love to hear great stories of how we are helping our guest at our event. I will send you the date of our event for next year as soon as it is confirmed in the next couple weeks.
Also will send you a copy of the wrap up flyer when it is completed.
Have a great rest of the year, and thanks so much for what you do to make our event great.
Lydia
The Trading Post is a constant source of donated glasses.
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Post Notes
Info and Anecdotes from the Trading Post
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by Beth Hanson
Bag Sale
The Trading Post holds a quarterly “bag sale” in which shoppers can fill a paper Giant Eagle grocery bag with clothing and accessories for $8.00. The clothing included in this sale is the clothing that has been out on the floor the longest and is now end-of-season. In our latest bag sale, we were hoping to reduce the number of summer dresses, sandals and bathing suits so we had room to put out fall clothing. You might be interested to know that if you donated summer clothing to the Trading Post, it may now be headed to Nicaragua, Mexico, or Sierra Leone. Shoppers from these countries have caught wind of our bag sales, and have helped us make room on our racks by gleaning lots of items to send to their home countries where summer clothing is always in season. It is a great feeling to be able to help people who are helping their families in other less fortunate places.
A Damned Habit!
We have one elderly shopper who shows up early every Monday morning to start his week off with a quick uplifting shopping trip to the Trading Post. The other day he said to me, “Coming in here is a damned habit! I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t come in here on a Monday morning.” He explained that he just adopted a new cat (rather, a stray cat adopted him), and so he has bought some cat toys and books about cat health from our shop (even though he made it clear to us that he is really a dog person). He told me that he buys binoculars at the Trading Post every time he sees them so he can give them to his elderly neighbors so they can do bird watching out their windows. What a peach!
Pune, India
Last month, a man showed up at the Tradng Post asking if we would take a large donation of men’s and women’s shoes. (Of course, we said “yes”.) He said that the reason he had chosen our shop as the place to take his shoes was that First Community supports a mission in his home town of Pune, India! He has lived here for 30 years and was a professor at Ohio State, but has always gone back to Pune to visit. On one of his visits home, he saw a Deep Griha van that said “First Community Church” on the side of it and this is how he made the connection. Small world, indeed!
History Made
One of our regular shoppers came down to the Trading Post one morning and at some point exclaimed joyfully, “The Trading Post is my drug of choice!” But after being there for about 30 minutes, she announced, “History is being made! This is the first time I have ever shopped here and not bought something!” As she left, we congratulated her on this historic occasion, but then she showed up again in the afternoon and started collecting things to buy. “So much for your historic occasion!”, I teased. She replied, “Well, I didn’t buy anything this morning. This is a second visit so it doesn’t count.” Okay…..history was made. Fun fact: This woman was a construction worker before she retired and was one of the people who helped build the roof on the Verne Riffe Office Building. She brought in a photo of herself standing on top of the building with some other men she had worked with. She claims you get used to being up high. (Right!) She had four children to raise on her own so she made up her mind to get a “man’s job” that would pay her well. One tough cookie!
Halloween Merchandise
Halloween merchandise will be for sale through the end of October. We have lights, costumes, wigs, Halloween books, mugs, and décor of all kinds.
We are open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and the first Saturday of the month from 10 am to 4 pm. So, we will be open on Saturday, October 1. We are located in the basement of the Annex Building at the back of the parking lot at South Campus. Donations may be left on the first floor of the Annex Building during our open hours.
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Did you miss the last issue of On a Mission! blog? There's a great story from the Trading Post. View it, and all past issues, by clicking the link below. | |
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Did you know Heart to Heart is on social media? Click the buttons below to follow us. We also have a blog! Read the weekly blog posts at h2h.FCchurch.com/blog | | |
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