GPHC Command Central: Overwhelmed With Gratitude
Your Generosity Will Result In An Expansion Of Our Free Food Programs In 2023
By Lori Midson
For the GPHN
It’s the Thursday before Thanksgiving, and I’m sitting at my laptop peering out the window to admire the floating snowflakes icing the towering trees dotting the greenway across from my Park Hill home. And as I reflect on my past few months as the new executive director of Greater Park Hill Community, Inc., I’m in absolute awe of the individuals, businesses, corporations, farms, food banks and groups that have supported this organization through their volunteer hours, financial donations and thousands of pounds of food donations. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude; my heart is swelled with deep, deep appreciation.
It’s been more than 55 years since our organization was established, and throughout the decades, our donors and volunteers have enabled it to grow and flourish, to nurture and provide. They are the backbone of our programs, our everyday heroes and heroines and our dedicated hearts.
As many of you know, we assemble and distribute between 350-400 meals each Thanksgiving to in-need families, independent of where they live. And it takes a very real village of multiple hands and bodies to make this happen. In the weeks leading up to our Thanksgiving Giveaway, volunteers donated more than 200 hours of service, including building hundreds of boxes, shopping for — and donating — food, organizing thousands upon thousands of food items, loading up their vehicles with heavy box loads and driving in precarious conditions to deliver Thanksgiving baskets to elementary schools, homebound individuals and low-income apartments scattered across the city. They donated gift cards and encouraged their neighbors to do the same.
Meanwhile, numerous businesses graciously hosted food drives on our behalf, which resulted in hundreds of donations from caring individuals whose names we’ll never know. I wish I did. On a gorgeous Sunday afternoon in mid-November, some 45 cyclists, in conjunction with Hardt Family Cyclery, arrived en masse at our office to deliver bag after bag after bag of Thanksgiving food gifts. It was one of the most joyful moments of my professional career. For every food donation delivered to our office, another family had a full plate on Thanksgiving.
A remarkable number of generous individuals, businesses, organizations and groups graced us with financial contributions to cover our Thanksgiving expenses, of which there are many. And with skyrocketing food — and food supply costs — these contributions made an enormous impact. And because of those monetary gifts —including nearly 1,000 donations made through 9News and anchor/managing editor Kyle Clark’s Word of Thanks online micro-giving campaign — we now have funds to exponentially improve, expand and add to our free food programs. This includes our emergency food pantry, which currently provides up to 18 pantry shopping visits per year for the approximately 1,000 in-need families we serve. I’m incredibly happy to announce that your financial contributions will now enable us to increase those visits to 24 per year — and hopefully more — in 2023. You are providing real nourishment to those who need it most.
To each and every single one of you who have volunteered, donated food or monetary contributions, hosted a food drive, lifted us up with your kind words (often, all at once), attended or sponsored a GPHC event or offered to help in so many other ways, big and small, thank you from the bottom of our swelled-with-appreciation hearts. You bring out the best in us.
On behalf of our board of directors and myself, we wish you joy, love, peace and the happiest of holidays.
With jingle bells of gratitude.
Our greatest emergency food pantry needs in December:
• Canned or packaged meats and fish (spam, tuna, salmon, chicken)
• Ramen
• Dry cereal
• Oatmeal
• Coffee
• Tea
• Juice boxes
• Baking supplies
• Canned fruit
• Snacks
Check greaterparkhill.org for details on how, when and where to drop off your donations. Out of respect for our clients and to ensure we follow food safety protocols, we cannot accept any expired or opened food packages. Thank you for your understanding.
Donors
Dahlia Campus Farms and Gardens
Housing for All Centers & Saints
Park Hill United Methodist Church
CJV Real Estate
Park Hill Congregational UCC
St. Thomas Episcopal Church
PHC Mixed Use LLC
Messiah Community Church
Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church
Cure D’Ars Catholic Church
Kathy Aguirre
Barbara Allen
Christine and Daniel Allen
Penny Ashley-Lawrence
Amy Barrett
Cathy Bauchwitz
Kristen Blair
Simon Blamires
Sarah Booth
Jerome Borison
Stacey Bowers
Devon Brocke
Inga Calvin
Erasmo Casiano
Maggie Chambers
Emily Clark
Mary Ellen Cochran
Lana and James Cordes
Jenna Cruff
Emma Cummings
Jennifer Czwornog
Brenna Derritt
Abigail Dice
Erin Donovan
Danielle Dwyer
Ruby Eichenour
Carol Emmer
Steve Farley
Michelle Ferguson
Anne & Joe Frank
Marian Frank
David Gestner
Bobbi Gillis
Josh Gipper
Princess Gray
Andy and Katie Gruel
Lisa Haddox
Simon and Elizabeth Hambidge
Amy Harris
Matt Harrison
Lola and Arlen Hershberger
Adrienne Hill
Heidi Hine
Henry Hine
Bob Homiak and Susan Schneider
Casandra Hood
Todd & Renee Hopkins
Bill Juraschek
Tim and Sally Kennedy
John Kerr
Michael Kosnett and Jan Van Mosteller
Kirstin Koszorus
Jacqueline Lansing
Alan and Leslie Levine
Sharon and Joe Little
Lauren Long
Mark and Debra Lovell
Tracey Macdermott and Heather Shockey
Carol Maclennan
Viki Manley
Gary and Carolyn Martyn
Kathleen Mayer
Jeff and Mayzie Mayfield
Beth and Jim McBride
Robin and Jay McCarthy
Darren McKinnis
Randy & Babette McQueen
Patricia Mead
Sophie Milam
Stephen and Laurel Mohr
Brenda and Stefan Mokrohisky
Brenda and Brian Morrison/Shaw
Harriet Mullaney
Sammie Muzikowski
Buffy and Vernon Naake
Susan Neal
Chuck E Nelson
Devin Nelson
Monica Newman
Andy Nguyez
Chris and Erin Nielsen
Hilary O’Byrne
Glenda O’Neal
Tom and Carol Odwyer
Jessica and Jeff Pearson
Louis Plachowski and Bridget Walsh
Betsy and Geoffrey Post
Geoff Post
Annie and David Pratt
Alan Prendergast
Ellen Reath and Craig Maginness
Erin Reynolds
Susan and Paul Riederer
Steven and Joan Ringel
Jeffrey and Karen Roberts
Emily Roet
David and Patty Roush
David Rubin
Mary Salsich
Doug Schuler and Margerie Hicks
Alexis and Joel Senger
Elvin and Irmi Smith
Anne Speck
Sarah Speicher
Kait Speth
Matthew and Elizabeth Spohn
Frank and Jan Tapy
Penfield Tate
Julie Tores
Wendi Torres
Gloria Valdez
Harold and Lois Weber
Sue Weinstein and Marekah Stewart
Polly Wirtz and Gary Klein
Sue Wofford
Judy Wolfe
Guy and Susan Wroble
Chris Yonushewski
Debbie Zucker and Brian Field
Volunteers
Henry Bootz
Claudia Fields
Maria Flora
Noni Horwitz
Bernadette Kelly
Linda Lovell
Elizabeth Post
Carole Robertson
Deb Rosenbaum
Mary Salsich
Lindsay Wadman
Jeannie Willis
Joel Hunter-Pirtle
Emily Clark
Vera Kalba
Mark Pressey
Nichole Barnes
Carolyn Dooling
Carrol Rhead
Harry Doby
Nina Kuhi
Roberta Locke
Nikki Wiederaenders
Ann Torgerson