Week of November 2nd, 2020
DON'T FORGET TO VOTE - TOMORROW IS YOUR LAST CHANCE!
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress”
--Frederick Douglass
Lots of Costumes this week with a virtual bash & contest on Friday between groups. Good stuff!
Football season is in full swing at CLI. While most of our tribe goes for the Browns and Buckeyes, there may be a few non-conformists that prefer maize & blue and/or black & gold. Got some good game face pics of your own? Send 'em in!
John's Usual Excuses & Apologies--

Last wee I joked that the CLI men's bowling team might feel awkward being the only team wearing masks in the Wednesday night men's league. A few people pointed out that it might have seemed that I was making fun of masks and people that wear them.

I absolutely believe in masks and in following Ohio's laws. I believe that masks, good handwashing and social distancing are HUGE factors in the fight against any illness. One of the real gamechangers over the past 100 years has been the access to clean water and dependable sanitary systems.

With Ohio's recent spike in cases, CLI is going to pull back a little bit and be extra cautious. This means fewer trips other than for nature walks until Huron County is back in the yellow range. Luckily CLI has gotten much better at running virtual activities/competitions between groups. We'll try to lean in on those even more over the next few weeks.

I am pretty sure that we'll see an increase in local infection rates for at least a few weeks. CLI will stay focused on maintaining separation and overlap between groups and we'll double down on universal precautions. If an infection happens, we intend to stop the exposure to as small a group as possible.

Starting this week, CLI will also push client league bowlers to bowl their weekly games at an alternate time (instead of regular league nights) for the next couple weeks. These weekly scores still count, and hopefully it won't be for too long until Huron County's numbers get better. I appreciate everyone's patience, support and trust as we work through this together.

If you haven't voted yet, please make sure that you do by tomorrow, Tuesday, November 3rd! Your vote matters.

My final topic this week is about Thanksgiving & Giving Tuesday later this month. I am very grateful to be so well supported by our clients, families, and community overall.

Up to now CLI has only actively raised money in order to bigger community projects. However, in 2021 we have some exciting new projects that will require more money than we're able to create on our own. But, for right now in 2020 we're going to continue to focus our fundraising efforts to support local foodbanks and nonfood banks. The future of CLI is in the community, which means we'd better step up to support it at times like these.

That's all I have. Stay positive, have a fun week, and keep washing those hands!
John
Mark and Brittany participated in the Vibrant Volunteers STEP program with OHGO this past Thursday. OHGO is a non-profit organization in the Sandusky area that are dedicated to facilitating acts of kindness to their community through their many programs including a mobile food pantry, a book mobile, and Project Happy (a gift giving program during the Christmas season). Mark and Brittany helped with their mobile food pantry on Thursday and not only did they have the chance to build on their work skills (teamwork, communication, following directions), they were also able to help people in need in the community.  
Deanna & Mark have been volunteering for the UCC's Non-Food Bank over the past few weeks, picking up & then packaging bulk dogfood donated by the Huron County Humane Society. In this photo the team is making a bulk pick-up. Volunteer projects like this are a great way to stay connected even when you can't hang out with the people you are helping.
Speaking of Masks & other PPE-- We asked people to show us their latest
covid leisure wear--
Congratulations to Mary for being Panera’s November employee of the month. Mary was very excited when she received it. She was also given a Panera $10 gift card and a pull over to wear. 
Great job Mary!!
STEPS services anyone?

Trust us, it is every bit as cool as Jen makes in look!
Just Dance!
Mark's got moves and is not at all afraid to be creative when he feels the groove. But, he may have met his match in this Just Dance Off with Tabitha.
Firelands Local LLC Update:
James Johnson
419-921-6400
From James Johnson, GM

Congratulations to CLI for both of the grants that they received-- even the “kick James to the curb” grant, I think. John keeps telling me this grant is a good thing.
It actually is good for both of us. One of our goals, is to make 2 stand alone companies. We have begun that journey and this grant will help us get to the finish line. 
 
Firelands has been fortunate to receive several production jobs in the last 2 weeks. There are several other jobs that will coming our way soon. The best part is that they were referrals from other companies that recommended us. 
 
We also have 2 bulk pickups for shredding this week.
 
MTD update: this is going extremely well. They are very happy with the work that we are doing. MTD has made our team feel very welcome. Friday was an employee appreciation meal that they made sure our folks were part of. MTD, at times, has a hard time keeping up with our crew. I couldn’t be more proud of the team.
 
Where am I?
Last weeks winner was……Jen S. with Donna S. in a close second. The picture was taken at CLI. The South side of the building from in from of Jen S.’s office facing East.
Since that was a pretty easy one, this week will be more challenging. As a reminder, the picture was taken in Huron County last week.
Good luck!
 
This week is Halloween. Enjoy it. 
Who says there's NO FREE LUNCH? We know people--
How is CLI able to afford giving away free food when we (and everybody else is hustling to break-even)?

It's a good question. The answer is that CLI invested a (very) small amount of seed money in April to open up a new checking account just for the Good Works Cafe. After that, it's been 100% funded by donations.

Our on-going investment now is just time. CLI is always looking to help people give to their local community. Got an idea of something that a small group can to do to help? Let us know!
The FREE Good Works Cafe will runs every Friday at 11:30 am until they run out of meals.
If you or a friend want a delicious meal but cannot get transportation, we can deliver to you for a $20 donation!

*Donations are accepted & 100% go to future Fridays.*
Spread the word!