Newsletter

SUMMER 2015

What’s Inside…

Good Works CruiseExecutive Director’s UpdateVolunteer SpotlightNextGen Grant and Harvest FestivalAnniversary Celebration

Supported in part by the United Way of Washington County

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Many supporters of Washington County Harvest of Hope recently enjoyed an elegant dinner cruise aboard the Valley Gem as a

result of the non-profit organization being chosen as this year’s winner of the Valley Gem’s annual “Good Works Cruise”. Each year, the Valley Gem honors and supports one of the area’s non-profit organizations with an elegant dinner and two hour cruise aboard the Valley Gem. The winning organization then sells tickets to the event with all of the proceeds going to the organization.

The Harvest of Hope FUNdraising Committee completed an Application for the 2015 Valley Gem “Good Works Cruise” by describing how the organization is dedicated to food rescue and community gardens to help feed hungry families in Washington County. Rescued food is delivered to all county food pantries and free community meals served throughout the county. The Application went on to describe how the funds raised through this event would be used for operational costs associated with our refrigerated truck and supplies, plants and seeds for our six community gardens.

Valley Gem “Good Works Cruise”

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There are many people that I’d like to thank who have contributed so much to our Harvest of Hope community garden program. Our

garden season got off to a lively start with volunteer and long-time gardener, Ken Sandstrom filling in as interim garden coordinator. Ken has worked endlessly to contact, train, and supervise work crews to get the gardens ready for over 60 gardeners throughout our program. The Hart Street and Harmar gardens are at capacity with no empty plots. New Matamoras garden, supervised by Larry Danford and Roger Early, is also at capacity.

Belpre Community Garden has undergone a major upgrade with a grant for raised beds coming from the Washington County Health Department. St. Mark’s United Methodist Church, next door to the garden, has worked long, hard, and faithfully at constructing four of the raised beds with four more promised possibly next season. I want to give a shout out to the following St. Mark’s crew: Pastor Dave Hubbard, Wayne Alkire, Larry Cheuvront, Dave Dever, Jeff Hubbard, Jason Hubbard, Jack Mason, Jeff Mason, Becky Matheny, Bob Matheny, Baili Matheny, and Rod O’Donnell.

Thanks to their efforts, the Belpre garden is more inviting to the community, particularly for those who would be challenged to have an in-the-ground garden. If you would like to participate in this garden, please call 740-706-1244.

Executive Director’s Report: Summer Garden UpdateKaren Kumpf

Harvest of Hope’s 10th Anniversary

Celebration

Mark your calendar for this special event. Potluck dinner will be held on a Saturday in September

at 5:00 p.m. More details to come!

Save the Date!September 2015

Aleece Dye

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How did you first find out about HoH and what made you decide to get involved?

While living in Boca Raton, FL, my wife and I retired and we moved back to Marietta, my wife’s hometown. We became members of Christ United Methodist Church and heard Karen Kumpf give a talk on Harvest of Hope. We knew we wanted to volunteer and after listening to Karen, decided HoH was the organization we wanted to be a part of.

How long have you been part of HoH and how has that role changed over time?

I think my wife and I started in 2006 or 2007. When we first started we would drive our own vehicle, take our cooler and pick up frozen food at Marietta Memorial. Now HoH has its own refrigerated truck and we pick up at 8 locations on a weekly basis as well as some other locations when they have food to donate. We deliver this food to 10 food pantries in Washington County and 9 churches that provide a community meal. We deliver this food free of charge to the locations that receive the food. We also have 6 community gardens that people can request a plot to garden.

How did you become President of the Board for HoH and how long have you been in that role?

In January 2014, I succeeded Linda Ankrom as President of the Board. Linda had been president the previous 3 years. I knew it would be a challenge following Linda as President because she had done such an excellent job. Hopefully I have lived up to the challenge.

What is your role as President of HoH?My role as the president is working with our Board members, our

Executive Director, and all our numerous volunteers to keep this great organization moving forward and to help out even more people in Washington County.

Have you held other positions within HoH?As I stated earlier, I served as Vice-President, served on various

committees, and I also volunteer as a driver on our HoH truck.

Volunteer Spotlight: Doug Beymer

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What do you find most rewarding?What I find most rewarding is knowing how many people we assist

with our food ministry. I’ve had the privilege to talk to some of the people we help at the community meals and at the food pantries. I know how appreciative they are. It is great to see how many people take advantage of the community gardens and the produce they get from their hard work in the gardens.

What strides have you seen HoH take while you’ve been involved and what do you see in the future for HoH?

The best thing I have seen is how we have grown as an organization and how many more people we assist today than when we first started. HoH continues to work to obtain additional food so we can provide it to the food pantries and the churches that have the community meals. Currently we are in the process of having a study completed to see if it is feasible to have a community kitchen.

Anything else you think is interesting or valuable about your experience with HoH or something personally you’d like to share about yourself?

HoH is very thankful for the businesses that donate food to our organization. We are also very thankful for our many volunteers because without them, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do. It amazes me that we have such extensive community involvement but I think Marietta is known for that. This is the most rewarding organization I have been a part of. Being part of HoH is very rewarding and gratifying.

SUMMER 2015

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As a part of Marietta College’s three-semester-long Next Gen Nonprofit Leadership program, a cohort of students are given the

opportunity to work with a variety of local non-profits and participate as board members. In the second semester of the program, students learn about grant proposal writing, and each of them develops a proposal for their respective non-profits. The culmination of this assignment is a competition for a piece of $5,000, donated by the Marietta Community Foundation, to fund their proposals and be awarded directly to the non-profit. This year, Next Gen Board member Taylor Hanigosky won a grant of $1,500 to fund the planning and implementation of a farm-to-table dinner and fundraiser for HoH. Her idea was for the dinner to be an event where attendees could learn more about the local food Washington County has to offer, celebrate HoH’s mission, and raise money for HoH’s continued work to fight hunger. For more information about this farm-to-table dinner, see below!

Harvest of Hope Receives Grant From Marietta College’s Non-profit Leadership Program

Farm-To-Table DinnerLocation: KFC Hall, Marietta

Date: August 22nd, 2015Time: Social hour begins at 6:00 p.m.

Dinner begins at 7:00 p.m.Food prepared by local chefs using locally

grown or raised ingredients!There will be a silent auction and live music.

For more information and tickets: Call MaryAnn Williams 740-373-1995

Taylor Hanigosky

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SUMMER 2015

I WANT TO HELP!Would you like to help us end hunger in our country?

There are so many ways you can help and get involved. Please check all that interest you.

_____ Donate food

_____Teach others to garden and raise food

_____Harvest during the growing season

_____Help organize fundraising efforts/events

______Assist with picking up food from donors

_____Invite a speaker from HoH to make a presentation to

your organization or church congregation

_____Make a monetary donation to help with food delivery

and pick-up.

_____Other. Please list_____________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

For more information please call 740.706.1244 to email foodrescue@wchoh.org.

www.wchoh.org

Name:___________________________ Phone:__________________Address:__________________________________________________Email:_____________________________________________________

Please mail to Washington County Harvest of Hope

301 Wooster Street

Marietta, OH 45750

Checks payable to Washington County Harvest of Hope

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