Major, major kudos to the Freemasons of Summit County for extraordinary generosity over the Christmas holiday.
Case in point: The 90-plus huge food baskets and grocery-store certificates that were distributed to area families in need as part of the charitable work of the Grand Lodge of Freemasons in Ohio.
Mark Ohlinger, who helped coordinate the massive work, shared the following:
“The Masonic Assistance Program is a year-round charitable outreach by Summit County Blue Lodges and the Scottish and York Rite Bodies and is designed to assist those in need. As part of this effort, a special holiday food delivery program provides groceries to families who might otherwise have very little food with which to celebrate the holidays.”
The families were nominated by area churches, the Salvation Army, social services, members of the Masonic fraternity and yours truly. “These holiday groceries were purchased and assembled by area Masons and then delivered to families in Summit, Portage, Medina, Cuyahoga, Stark, Wayne and Tuscarawas counties,” Ohlinger said. “The delivery area covered Litchfield to the west, Strongsville to the north, Kent to the east and south to Canton.”
The Christmas food basket giveaway — which began 21 years ago and has expanded to a “larger year-round initiative” — is consistent with the tenets of the Freemasons: brotherly love, relief and truth.
“While many individuals assisted in this effort in 2011, Save A Lot No. 634 deserves special recognition for its help and assistance in purchasing and loading the food,” Ohlinger noted.
“In addition to food donations, the 102,000 Masons in Ohio provide approximately $15 million in charitable giving annually. This year they gave $94,000 in college scholarships, contributed $200,000 to Special Olympics Ohio Summer Games and funded $70,000 in free training for hundreds of Ohio schoolteachers to recognize students at non-academic risk. They also provided $12 million in elderly care and helped many needy Ohio families and individuals through the Charitable Foundation.”
Recycling kitchenware
Recycle Pots and Pans is a local nonprofit that can use our help without putting a burden on any of us.
Its mission, according to Abbe Turner, is to redistribute commonly used kitchen items to families in need.
“We’re like the aggregate,” said Turner, who also is the proprietor of Lucky Penny Creamery in Kent. “We pull it all together. We collect (the cookware and dishes), sanitize and box them up.”
Turner, in applauding the efforts of local food banks, suggests there is a great need for items to prepare the food once it is received.
Turner also pointed out the importance of the dinner hour when families have the opportunity to have meals together. “It’s an important part of family glue,” she noted, adding that studies show that children who eat together as a family do better in school and are less likely to get into trouble.
Since its inception six months ago, Recycle Pots and Pans has helped rebuild kitchens for 18 families. A recent beneficiary of its goodwill was a family that lost its home in a fire.
Recycle Pots and Pans also works with Kent’s Safer Futures, the Domestic Violence Center in Greater Cleveland, the Community Action Council in Ravenna and various other groups.
According to Turner and Ann Reid, another volunteer with the project, the group’s greatest need right now is shelving and a van to transport the goods.
For information about how you can donate your used pots and pans, dinnerware, drinking glasses and the like, visit Recycle Pots and Pans on Facebook or call Lucky Penny Creamery at 330-678-9355.
Helping the homeless
Kudos to Akron’s East Community Learning Center students and faculty who did their part in helping area homeless families have a better Christmas.
The seventh- and eighth-graders collected and wrapped nearly 100 gifts for newborns through age 17 in need. They were guided in their effort by social studies teacher Michelle Jones. Language arts teacher Beth Protich and her students also put together treat bags, filled with candy, for the children. Other teachers providing a strong assist were Michelle Hillier, Charlene Panovich and Brian Ritter.
“Many of the presents were dropped off at one of the 10 homeless shelters in Akron and some were dropped off to local families who are ‘doubled up,’ a term used to describe multiple families living under one roof,” said Rachel Breece-Stith, child and family development specialist with Akron Public Schools’ Project RISE (Realizing Individual Strength through Education).
The mission of Project RISE, said program manager Debra Manteghi, is to help families and children experiencing homelessness.
Drumming up support
St. Luke’s Anglican Church will be drumming in 2012 thanks to the generosity of local professional drummer Sonny Reese, whose offer to donate his five-piece practice drum set appeared in Thursday’s column.
“St. Luke’s Anglican Church could really use the drum set being offered, as the Episcopal Church has recently taken away our building and its contents,” wrote Janet Worrall, director of music at St. Luke’s. “We had to leave our drum set behind, so would greatly appreciate the donation of drums for our music ministry.”
Offering lawn tools
The Horak family has accumulated lots of shovels, rakes, brooms and the like and wants to donate them. “We hate to throw them away and were wondering if you have any knowledge of an organization or individuals who have need of them,” the family wrote.
“The shovels and rakes could be used by community gardens, as they have lots of use left in them. We also have lots of brooms and some snow shovels. The brooms are both indoor and outside types.”
Please email me of your interest.
Seeking centenarians
Heads up, dear readers: The X Prize Foundation and Medco are looking for 100 centenarians (age 100 or older) “whose DNA will serve as a basis for the Archon Genomics X Prize presented by Medco. The goal of this competition is to accelerate the field of personalized medicine by awarding $10 million to the team of scientists who most rapidly, inexpensively and accurately sequence these genomes. Doing so will improve our understanding of health and longevity.”
Anyone 100 or older who is free of any serious disease, can be nominated Please submit to www.genomics.xprize.org/medco-100-over-100/ nominate.
Jewell Cardwell can be reached at 330-996-3567 or emailed at jcardwell@thebeaconjournal.com
