Feeding the 5000–or atleast those in Downtown Columbus!

My choice for today’s People making a difference is the Broad Street Presbyterian Church’s Food Pantry under the leadership of Kathy Kelly Long.  Here is their information.

Thanks for making a difference in those people’s lives who need it most!

Location: Broad Street Presbyterian Church

760 E. Broad St.Columbus, OH 43205

614-221-6552

Hours: Monday – Friday  9:30 a.m – 12:00 p.m.

Saturday 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Interim Director: Kathy Kelly-Long

Company Overview	The Pantry serves over 3400 meals each week. The majority of our food is purchased from Mid-Ohio Foodbank at nominal cost. The remainder comes from member donations and food drives from other congregations or community organizations. We serve clients in an area from downtown east to Reynoldsburg, south to Livingston Avenue, north to Fifth Avenue, and west to the Scioto River. Each eligible client …is provided with a five-day supply of staple items and is served no more than once every thirty days. We serve an average of 1600 individuals per month and over 6000 households per year. The Pantry is open six days a week; from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm, Monday through Friday, and 9:00 am to 11:00 am Saturdays. The Food Pantry is staffed entirely by volunteers from the Broad Street Presbyterian church, other area congregations, local schools and colleges, and local businesses.
Mission	The Broad Street Food Pantry is dedicated to providing food to our urban neighbors who are hungry. Addressing the most basic human need, we help individuals and families put meals on their tables—providing food for their bodies, relief to their minds, and nourishment for their souls. We believe that engaging with and investing in our local community provides immeasurable return. We dedicate our resources to nurturing our neighbors in need.
Products	The Food Pantry is open Monday through Saturday, and volunteers are needed to register clients, assist clients with selecting their food choices, help stock the shelves, and unload the weekly food truck from the MidOhio Food Bank. Volunteer If you are interested in becoming a Food Pantry Volunteer, please call 614-221-6552. Giving Money/Financial gifts allow the pantry to purchase food and toiletries. Your financial gift is tax deductible  The pantry also welcomes donations of non-perishable products, including toiletries. Toiletries are especially needed, as clients cannot purchase these with food stamps.

Pickerington Education Foundation–grants to help the classroom

This was the article in a recent This Week Pickerington paper.  So proud to be a part of this organization Making a difference in the Pickerington Community.

Foundation awards grant for ESL students

By                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Nate Ellis                              

ThisWeek Community NewspapersWednesday December 21, 2011 1:16 PM

A local organization last week provided a grant to purchase software to teach English to Pickerington students who are fluent in other languages.

The nonprofit Pickerington Education Foundation presented Pickerington Local School District interim Superintendent Jim Sotlar with a $2,000 check on Dec. 12 to bolster the district’s English Language Learners program.

The money, which was one of several grants the foundation provides to the district each year, will be used to purchase Imagine Learning software.

That software is designed to teach English to students for which English is not their native language, using interactive activities and curriculum. According to a website for the software, it focuses on instruction in literacy, vocabulary development and listening and speaking skills.

“The funds will benefit students throughout the district,” said Kathy Kelly-Long, chairwoman of the foundation’s board of directors. “Currently, there are 200 students in English Language Learners program.”

Barbara Thompson, a Pickerington Education Foundation board member and chair of its development committee, said the foundation provided funding to supplement the district’s English Language Learners program because it supports efforts to bring 21st-century learning models to local classrooms.

She added that the district’s current high number of English Second Language (ESL) students warranted bringing in new tools to help foster language learning.

“We have a tremendous amount of diversity in our classrooms,” Thompson said. “We wanted to make sure teachers have the tools necessary to help students with diverse backgrounds learn English.”

Pickerington Education Foundation grants, including the one provided for Imagine Learning software, are generated through donations to the foundation and fundraisers the organization holds throughout the year.

Thompson said the foundation will continue to collect donations and raise money through the end of the year in preparation of awarding grants next month to fund requests local teachers have made for classroom materials, equipment and software.

“We’ll be voting on grants in January,” she said.

Sotlar said the software should significantly help teachers provide language-learning instruction to students who need it.

“I want to thank the foundation for all the work you do for the district throughout the school year,” he said.

Additional information about the Pickerington Education Foundation or about donating is available online at http://www.pickeringtoneducationfoundation.com. Donations also can be made to the foundation via mail, at Pickerington Education Foundation, P.O. Box 817, Pickerington, Ohio 43147.

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Business Partners/ Military Brothers

In This Week Newspaper there was this article.

It talks about the work these two guys do to make a difference in the lives of other Veterans.  They are true Heros and I thank

This Week Newspapers for recognizing the work they do.

Thanks guys for all you do!

Here is the article:

Greg Foulks and Michael Downey were once brothers in arms, both serving in Iraq during the first Gulf War.

Now, years later, the two are brothers in business, sharing upper floor office space at 5 S. High St. in Canal Winchester, and in their work with the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association (CVMA).

Following their full-time military careers, Foulks and Downey came together because of their passion for motorcycles and their desire to continuing serving their military brethren through the CVMA.

According to the organization’s website, CVMA members are combat veterans from all branches of the military who enjoy riding motorcycles as a hobby. The group’s focus is “to help veteran care facilities provide a warm meal, clothing, shelter, and guidance, or simply to say ‘thank you’ and “welcome home.’”

The CVMA sponsors or participates in several motorcycle-related charity events each year and, as a nonprofit organization, donates to veteran care facilities and charities that aid veterans.

Foulks, owner of Falcon Technologies, is still enlisted in the National Guard. Downey is a retired Army veteran and owner of HD Coatings.

The two serve as the state representative and public relations officer of the Ohio branch of the CVMA. They focus on fundraising events to benefit the Fisher House Foundation, which provides free homes for the families of service members who are being treated at a hospital or VA center.

“We raised $27,000 at our last event for Fisher House,” Downey said. “That’s where a family can stay free of charge while their soldier is rehabilitating.”

The original Fisher House is located at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton; currently, there are 54 Fisher Houses nationwide.

“There are soldiers that need help — with wounds both seen and unseen. They aren’t looking for a pat on the back, but some of them do need help recovering and moving forward with jobs and life,” Foulks said.

The two support veterans through the CVMA, as well as through their businesses, because they believe it is important for returning veterans to have resources available to them as they make the transition into the next phases of their lives.

“I’m very proud to say I run a veteran-owned business, but I don’t expect a leg up for it. I serve because I believe in it, not because I’m trying to get more business,” Foulks said. “When I come across another veteran-owned business, we do definitely share a connection, though.”

This connection between Foulks and Downey led to the shared office.

“My family owned a painting company when I was growing up,” Downey said. “After my military service, that was what I knew how to do. So, now I run a commercial and residential painting and drywall business.

“Greg called and wanted help repairing the office here. He jokingly mentioned me moving in to share the space, but he wasn’t joking.”

After several years of working from home, Foulks said he needed a standalone office to take his business to the next level. Foulks lives near Canal Winchester and said he appreciates the small-town atmosphere, especially being surrounded by so many other locally owned small businesses.

“Canal Winchester has a lot of good things going on for promoting the small businesses downtown here,” he said. “I’m all for small businesses, because they’re who are hiring people, not the big corporations. That’s why (Falcon Technologies) focuses on providing managed IT solutions to small businesses who can’t afford their own IT staff.”

Downey agreed, saying he likes to be accessible face-to-face with clients.

“I don’t want to just be on the other end of an email, I want to be able to offer up a handshake,” he said.

More information about the CVMA is available online at http://www.combatvet.org or from Downey and Foulks at their offices on the second floor at 5 S. High St.

Business & Charity go Hand in Hand

Today’s  organization making a difference in the life of their community is

Beany’s Auto Service Center

1673 Brice Road   *  Reynoldsburg, OH   43068   *  614-864-1600

Beany’s Auto Service Center  is an amazing business. 

          The success of their business over the last 30 years has been largely due to great customer service and offering the best value in Central Ohio for your car-repair dollar.   They’ve served several generations of the same family, becoming a part of the old-fashioned tradition of finding a good ‘shopkeeper’ and staying loyal to them.  This shop is a small town shop in times of the big “Mega-store” culture.    They’ve survived because they treat their customers the way they’d like to be treated, and from their family to yours, genuinely care that you’re being served well.

          They have been the 2009, 2010, and 2011 Super Service Award recipient from Angie’s list–which says a lot about how they work and that customer satisfaction is key. 

          But besides all of this, they are genuinely concerned about the people around them.  They participate in fundraisers held in their community–from collecting coats for kids in the Reynoldsburg School District, to helping with a community clean up day, to collecting money for the DATA program which assists people in active treatment for cancer in paying their everyday bills, to numerous Veterans programs they participate in and help to organize and collect donations for.  More importantly they give back out of their own pockets.  One example of this is Each month they choose a charity to help–This month (January 2012) they have a promotion going on that if you donate $25.00 (in a check or cash only)  to “A Job UP Cleaning Service” you will a free oil change!  The donations given will get supplies hygiene/safety items to homeless veterans and men, women and children living on the streets and/or tent cities in East Columbus.  The organization strives to get homeless people employed to end their cycle of poverty. 

          Each month there is a new special just like this one with maybe a different recipient but just as important none-the-less.  How awesome is that!

And so http://www.beanysautoservicecenter.com is my pick for today’s Change Maker! 

Why not give them your business knowing they are helping in the community.

Harmony Project Makes a Difference

I would like to start my year off with an organization that has at it’s heart the premise that through diversity, we all grow!  Below you will find information from their website that is the heart of what they believe, what they stand for and what they have accomplished.  I cherish time to get to know the individuals in this organization–their vast backgrounds, affiliations, cultures, etc. 

Their website is http://harmonyproject.com.  Find out more about them! 

They are making a difference!

The Harmony Project is the art of community.

The Harmony Project embraces the mission of transforming the community through service and song. It provides an opportunity for individuals of different racial backgrounds, religions, ages, political affiliations, and sexual orientations to work toward performing at an artistic level they had never imagined, and bond through the collective experience of community service. Walls are torn down and bridges are built. The result: a stronger, more inclusive community.

Sing.

We sing — 150 voices strong — with music as diverse as our membership. We believe that when people of different racial backgrounds, religions, ages and occupations unite in artistic collaboration, they move their audience and community to action.

We bring to life the dreams of performing at a sophisticated level and making a difference in the lives of others. To our audience, we are the sound of inspiration.

As we practice, walls come down and bridges are built. When we perform, we spotlight a community in harmony.

Serve.

We serve our local communities by spending hours at food banks, homeless shelters and inner-city neighborhoods … building, cleaning, painting and planting. To those who need us, we are service in action.

When we serve together, we create a greater impact than if we had acted alone. We embody the power of many voices joining together as one: community in harmony.

Share.

We share by providing access to music and art to children from different backgrounds, starting the creative dialogue that leaves them open to understanding.

We continue to share by encouraging teens to move beyond labels to tolerance and finally acceptance of people’s differences. We reach out to those who are marginalized because of their housing status. By celebrating diversity and inclusion, we promote a stronger, more vibrant definition of community. We strive to be a catalyst for change. When we see a need, we respond as a community in harmony.

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Accomplishments 2009-2011

• Presented six sold-out concerts at the Lincoln Theatre (total audience 3200)
• Presented free outdoor concert for the city (total audience 4000)
• Presented interfaith concert at the Capitol Theatre (total audience 700)
• Recipient of Bridge Builder Award presented by Center for Healthy Families
• Recorded and produced CD/DVD: Harmony Project, Live at the Lincoln!
• Performed free concert for families of Southside Settlement House, Neighborhood     House, Central Community House and foster families of Franklin County Children Services
• Cleaned and refurbished Blackburn Recreation Center for After-School All-Stars
• Cleaned and mulched beds and playgrounds for Beatty Recreation Center
• Collected 4000+ toys and gift cards for children and teens in Central Ohio
• Collected 100+ bicycles for children and teens of Franklin County Children Services
• Adopted families through Center for Healthy Families and answered wish lists
• Provided 300 hours of service to Mid-Ohio Foodbank
• Presented first of its kind Flash Choir of 1,000 voices in Columbus Commons; with viral video hits of 70,000 worldwide.
• Built Harmony House with Habitat for Humanity
• Sponsored the Farmer’s and Artists Market at Columbus Commons, Summer 2011
• Donated piano the Lincoln Theatre
• Donated (and planted) 100 trees to City of Columbus
• Donated 16,000+ meals to Mid-Ohio Foodbank

2012 A New Day to Make a Difference!

Aside

Often, at the beginning of the year we ask ourselves, “what difference are we going to make during this new year?  How are we going to change–change ourselves and the world around us?”

 This blog is a compulation of people, organizations, businesses and groups,  that I will have come in contact with over the year, that are doing just that–Making a Difference–in their own lives, in the lives of those around them and even in their corner of the world.  The purpose of this is to celebrate what they are doing, how they are doing it, and why they do it so that your life might be blessed by the difference they are making. 

So here is to Making a Difference–let the Celebration begin!