1. family and parenting
2. children

Monthly Report to the Community
October 2012
IN THIS ISSUE:
2
Christmas for the
Love of Children
3
4
Volunteer
Opportunities
5
6
Teen L.I.N.K.S.
Spotlight
Kudos Corner
Donor List
7
Building Blocks
Program
8
Christmas Food
Collection
Christmas for the Love of Children
by Kariema Whitsett
In preparing for the Christmas program, I had the great pleasure talking with a Ms. Myrna Johnson.
Ms. Johnson is not only an OPEN M Getting Ahead participant, but she has also been a part of the
“Christmas for the Love of Children” program. While speaking with Ms. Johnson, she had me in
tears.
Last year, Ms. Johnson was not able to afford Christmas for her son. However, with the help of OPEN
M and our wonderful sponsors, her son was able to have a great Christmas. Ms. Johnson stated that
her son was matched up with the perfect sponsor. Knowing that her son loved music, the sponsor
provided him with an MP3 player. This was a dream come true! Their experience with OPEN M was
great; she said they have great respect and love for OPEN M and how much we help the community.
With Christmas being right around the corner, we are in
the midst of our big Christmas program here at OPEN M,
“Christmas for the Love of Children.” Our goal is to share
Christ’s love with the children in our community whose
families are unable to afford gifts for them.
We hope you will help us provide Christmas gifts and food to
families in need. All it takes to sponsor a child is to fill out
the form below. You can also find this form on our website
at www.openm.org. Once we receive this form, we will send
you a list of your
children and their
wish list.
We ask that each
child receive two
$25 gifts. All gifts
must be delivered to
OPEN M by Monday,
December 10. You
continued on Page 2
OPEN M (Opportunity for People Everywhere in Need Ministry) is an ecumenical Christian mission.
We are committed to Feed the Hungry, Care for the Sick, Nurture Children, Build Families, and Strengthen the Community.
Board of Trustees
Beverly Bokovitz, MSN, RN
Roxia Boykin, MPA, RN
Darryl Brake
John M. Davis
Jess W. Hurst, CFP
Dr. Eric Johnson
Joy D. Kosiewicz
Shawn Lyden
Jeffrey A. Murphy
John S. Murphy
Scott Myers
Patricia J. Neely
Joe Thibault
Jil Williams
Michael G. Wojno
OPEN M Foundation
Ann Amer Brennan – Chair
Eileen Burg
Ronal D. Glosser
Philip H. Maynard
Frank Harvey
Michael G. Wojno
OPEN M Staff
Dottie Achmoody, MPA
CEO, Ext. 407
Kaitlyn Achimasi
Behavior Health Coordinator, Ext. 419
Pat Adolphson
Accounting Assistant, Ext. 405
Desi Becker
Clinic Receptionist, Ext. 413
Bobbie Boyer
Food Service Manager, Ext. 416
Dan Bricker
Building Manager, Ext. 422
Felicia Bronner
Education/Diamond Ladies Coord., Ext. 410
Tiffany Cawley
Events and Marketing Mgr., Ext. 404
Coach KeThandru Denson,
YME Coordinator, Ext. 423
Betty Eberly,
Grant Writer, Ext. 405
Angel Favaro
Education Manager, Ext. 402
Patrice Fox, BSN, RN
Nursing Administrator, Ext. 414
Lamont Graves
Operations Manager, Ext. 409
Colleen McMahon
Executive Assistant, Ext. 428
Eric Nelson
Clinic Coordinator, Ext. 406
Hannah Nitz, LSW, MSW
Family Development, Ext. 403
Ken Price
JOBS Coordinator, Ext. 433
Vikki Thomas
Community Coordinator, Ext. 418
Sanford Trado
Accounting Manager, Ext. 405
Kariema Whitsett
Christmas Coordinator, Ext. 415
OPEN M is located at,
941 Princeton Street in Akron, Ohio.
(330) 434-0110 FAX: (330) 434-6661
www.openm.org
2
OPEN M Report to the Community
can also choose to deliver the gifts directly to the families. For more information, contact
Kariema at 330-434-0110, Ext. 435. Thanks for your love and generosity this Christmas
season!
OPEN M Christmas for the Love of Children
I would love to sponsor #
Please check one:
children this Christmas, buying two $25.00 gifts for each child
I will drop off gifts at OPEN M I will drop off gifts at home of family (must include food gift card also)
Contact Name: E-mail:
Church/Business (if applicable):
Address:
Phone
Please check one:
I will donate presents and a gift card for food
Comments:
I will donate presents
I will donate cash for OPEN M to buy gifts
Please mail to Kariema Whitsett
OPEN M 941 Princeton Street Akron, OH 44311
October Hot Lunch Schedule
Mon. Oct. 15
Hudson UMC
Tues. Oct. 16
Fairlawn Lutheran
Wed. Oct 17
Church of our Saviour
Thurs. Oct. 18
Twin Falls
Fri. Oct. 19
Macedonia
Mon. Oct. 22
High Street
Christian Church
Tues. Oct. 23
St. Barnabas
Wed. Oct. 24
Open date
Thurs. Oct. 25
First UMC
Cuyahoga Falls
Fri. Oct. 26
Sigma Theta Tau
Mon. Oct. 29
Stow UMC
Tues. Oct. 30
Christ Church
Wed. Oct. 31
First Congregational
Church Hudson
Volunteer Opportunities
Clinic
•
•
•
•
•
Podiatrists- more than 20% of the clinic’s patient population is diabetic so the need for excellent foot care is great!
Dentists- currently needed during daytime hours.
Medical Massage Therapist- for many of our chronic pain patients
Pharmacist for our morning clinics, held the 3rd and 4th Thursday morning of the month from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Need RNs, nurses who are available for daytime clinics, specifically the 3rd and 4th Monday and Thursday morning of the
month from 8:45 a.m. -12 p.m.
Food Department
• Mountain of Food- 3rd Friday of each month from 8 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.
• Food Pantry Workers- Monday - Thursday 9-2:30 p.m.
Front Desk Receptionist
• We are also looking to fill our Tuesday afternoon and Friday morning receptionist position. The hours for the morning shift
are from 8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. and the
afternoons from 1p.m. - 5 p.m. The
OPEN M receptionist is responsible for
greeting clients, answering phones,
occasionally stuffing envelopes and
You are cordially invited
most importantly- Being cheerful! to attend the inaugural
Family Development
• Getting Ahead Monthly Meetings provide dinner or childcare during the
meetings, on the second Tuesday of
each month in the evening.
Education Department
• We are currently seeking adult speakers
A fundraiser to aid those in need out
and mentors for our teen L.I.N.K.S
of the cold of poverty, and help light
Leadership programs.
the fire to stability!
• We are looking for volunteers on Tuesday
and Thursday between the hours of 10
Friday, November 9, 2012
a.m. - 2 p.m. to help with our Building
6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Blocks program. This person needs to
at
have experience with children between
The Sheraton Suites, Cuyahoga Falls
the ages of 3 to 5 years. The duties
Tickets are $75 per person
include (but are not limited to) being a
Double date discount of
room monitor, helping to serve meals
$270 for four tickets
and generally assist the facilitators.
• Story time readers- Volunteer willing to
Price includes: dinner, music, silent auction,
come and read stories to our Building
and surprises that are sure to please!
Blocks children on Tuesdays and/or
Thursdays between 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Kindly RSVP by October 29
by using the enclosed card
For general information about volunteering
check out our website at www.openm.org and
click on “volunteer application,” fill out this
Thank you for helping us guide our
form and someone will get back to you quickly.
Alternatively, you can contact Vikki Thomas at
clients to a life of strength.
[email protected], or by phone at
330-434-0110, Ext. 418.
Fire and Ice Experience
www.openm.org
3
OPEN M welcomes our new staff member:
Coach Keith Denson
OPEN M would like
to welcome Coach
Keith Denson to the
OPEN M staff as
the new coordinator
of our Young Men
Empowered (YME)
program. Coach
began working with
us over the summer
to help recruit and
prepare for the fall
session of YME. He
has a passion to help the young men in our community make
positive choices to help them succeed. Coach says that he loves
OPEN M because it is “the perfect opportunity to give back to
the community. The kids are in need of a positive role model
and resources that they deem unattainable.” In the short time
that Coach has been here, we have seen how generous he is
with his time in order to help these young men in any way that
he can.
Coach Denson comes to us with a background in fitness and
nutrition. He graduated from Orrville High School in 1986 and
went on to The University of Tennessee, where he majored in
fitness education. There he also played football and was very
successful until he suffered a career-ending knee injury against
UCLA. Since then, Coach has stayed heavily involved in teaching
the community about health, fitness and nutrition.
In 2008, he graduated from Stratford Career Institute and is
now a certified personal trainer and fitness nutrition coach. He
also owns a personal training business, Dragon Kai Fitness,
specializing in body shaping, muscle tone and nutrition. Coach
Denson is the father of three children, a daughter and two sons.
Coach’s motto in life comes from the Bible in Matthew 7:12. “In
everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.”
You can see Coach live that out day to day in the way he treats
the program participants, staff and volunteers. We are lucky to
have Coach Denson join our team, and we look forward to the
wonderful events and activities he has planned for the
YME program.
If you would like to be a part of Coach’s new program, feel free
to give him a call or stop by OPEN M during YME on Monday and
Wednesdays. Coach is excited to mentor these young men and
would love the assistance from other positive role models as
well! Thanks Coach for the great job you are doing with
these boys!
Teen L.I.N.K.S. – Spotlight on our kids
Diamond Lady of the Month
K’Maira Carson, 13, known
to most of us at OPEN M as
Kay Kay, joined the Diamond
Ladies this summer. She
got involved with OPEN M
when her mom told her that
you can never be too young
to volunteer. With that she
decided to volunteer her
time at OPEN M.
Kay Kay says she was scared
4
OPEN M Report to the Community
at first, but you would have never known with her lively spirit and
fun-loving personality. She took on a great deal of responsibility
at the front receptionist desk and around the office. Kay
Kay loves to sing, draw and dance. She takes her education
seriously and says that she will not let anyone come in the way
of her education.
K’Maira is currently in the 7th grade at St. Paul of Akron. Kay
joined the Diamond Ladies because she loves being around
girls close in age, and it was a way to stay involved with OPEN
M. She feels being a part of the Diamond Ladies is a privilege
and has been a committed member since she began. Felicia
Bronner, Diamond Ladies Coordinator, says that Kay Kay is
Kudos Corner
We owe our thanks to the following people:
• Congratulations to our own
Hannah Nitz for winning the
Andrea R. Teodosio, Rising
Star Award, at the 2012
Pinnacle Awards of Summit
County Breakfast.
• Faith Lutheran for the
donation of fresh produce
and peanut butter
• Everyone that volunteered their time during Mountain of
Food
• Summa Health System for winning the Public Sector,
Nonprofit Agency Pinnacle Award
• Jacquie Kyle and Faith Lutheran for collecting and
donating a lot of school supplies for our children’s
programs
• Akron General Health Center for spending a day with
OPEN M in September to learn more about our agency.
• To our church representatives for helping spread the
good news about OPEN M to your congregations!
• T.R.Y. Ministries for all of your help volunteering every
month for our events!
• We send out appreciation to the food vendors who
provided delicious tastings to our attendees at the
Networking Extravaganza. The following food vendors
participated: Donato’s Pizza, Earth Fare, LongHorn
Steakhouse, Ms. Julie’s Kitchen, Old Carolina Barbecue,
Robert J Catering, Teresa’s Pizza, The Village at St.
Edward, West End Blenz, West Side Bakery and Wolf
Creek Winery.
• OPEN M staff for volunteering during the Back 2 School
Event
• All the groups and churches that cooked and served hot
lunch in September
• Dan Bricker for doing gymnastics sessions with the
Building Blocks
• Congratulations to Philip H. Maynard for winning the
Lisle M. Buckingham Leadership Award at the 2012
Pinnacle Awards breakfast.
• Anne Cannon for helping OPEN M receive the W.H.O.
grant through Beauty Control for $25,600. This
grant will help OPEN M to develop and give our Teen
L.I.N.K.S and Building Blocks program participants the
opportunity to truly learn and grow by providing them
with unique educational experiences.
• Thank you to everyone who came to our 4th Annual After
Summer Networking Extravaganza on September 26th!
reliable, responsible and dedicated. “Anytime I ask her to do
something, she does it with a smile on her face. She goes above
and beyond the call of duty,” said Bronner. We are so blessed to
have young ladies like K’Maira in our Diamond Ladies program
who have such a generous, caring heart and are proud to be an
OPEN M Diamond Lady.
YME Member of the Month for October
Francisco Santana, also known as Frisco, joined the YME
program this fall. He is 13 years old and attends the 8th grade
at Innes Middle School. Since deciding to join, he has displayed
characteristics that we are looking for in our program members.
He is eager to learn and very committed to the program. Frisco
has yet to miss a day this session and has even come up to
OPEN M on the program’s off days to work with Coach Denson.
He is willing to learn and wants to be a better student and
athlete.
Francisco has many positive goals including aspirations of being
a collegiate athlete for a Division I school. He loves football and
basketball and has committed himself to being successful in
academics as well as athletics. He is taking the advice of Coach
Denson and the YME group and using his talents and resources
available to him to achieve his goals. We are proud to have a
young man in our program who is determined to succeed by
working hard and taking the right approach to reach his goals.
www.openm.org
5
Thank you to our donors!
OPEN M Donor List August 18th through September 25th
The Rev. & Mrs. K. Lee
Achmoody
*Akron Baptist Temple
Akron Children’s Hospital
Akron City Hospital Pharmacy
Aisha Allen
Mr. & Mrs. David Alspaugh
Mr. & Mrs. Mal Ames
Anonymous (2)
Glenn Atwood
Mr. & Mrs. Ray Auman
Mr. & Mrs. David Baker
Mr. & Mrs. Frank Barber
Mr. & Mrs. David Bickel
The Bloom Society
Jamie Brown
Mr. & Mrs. Eric Brubaker
Mr. & Mrs. Nicholas Carpas
Ernest Calhoun
Catholic Charities Health
& Human Service
*Christ Church
Episcopal, Akron
+ The Church Agency
Ms. Nickie Ciolli-Hetrick
Ms. Judith Clifford
Community Fellowship
Ministries
Warren Daily
Day Star Clinic Research, Inc.
Mr. & Mrs. John Dewell
Mr. & Mrs. Michael Diamond
Ms. Virginia Dilauro
Mr. & Mrs. Harry Donovan
Ms. Irma Earley
Earth Fair
*East Ohio Conference
of The UMC
Ms. Linda Emery
*Faith Lutheran Church
*Family of Faith UMC
*First United Methodist
Church, Cuyahoga Falls
*First United Methodist
Church, Hudson
Ms. Helen D. Fleming
6
Paula J. Fulmer
Mr. & Mrs Thomas Fry
Dr. & Mrs. Gary Giorgio
*Grandview United
Methodist Church
*Green Valley United
Methodist Church
Nancy Ann Gupta
Mrs. Lorena Hall
Ms. Carolyn Hansinger
Mr. & Mrs. Dale Hardman
Mr. & Mrs. David Henderson
Mr. & Mrs. Ronald Hine
*Holy Trinity Lutheran Church
*Hudson United
Methodist Church
Dr. & Mrs. Russell Hurd
John J. Catering
Mr. & Mrs. David Johnson
Ms. Julia Kirby
Mr. Ted Klimczak
Mr. & Mrs. Anthony Klisan
Ms. Clara Krum
*Lakemore UMC
Deborah Lambo
Mr. & Mrs. Henry Leonard
Mr. & Mrs. William Lowe
Bill & Anne Lowery Fund
Ms. Anna Maerean
Margida & Associates
Ms. Althea Marquardt
Dr. & Mrs. Edward Marshall, Jr.
Dr. & Mrs. Bradley Martin
Mr. McFadden
Mrs. Shirlee McMahon
Ms. Mahli Mechenbier
Mr. & Mrs. Charles Monroe
Ms. Theresa E. Morelli
Lee A. Myers
Mrs. Patricia Neely
*Oak Hill Presbyterian Church
*Peninsula United
Methodist Church
Ms. Frances Peterson
Mr. & Mrs. Ronald Pitts
Mr. & Mrs. William Post
OPEN M Report to the Community
Dr. & Mrs. Donald Raabe
Aletha Rantanes
*Redeemer UMC
Regency, Inc.
Ms. Helena Rizzo
Mr. William Roemer
Joyce Roth
*Saint Hilary Parish
Mrs. Marjorie Sampson
Don Shaver
Mr. & Mrs. William Silver
Carol Simpson
Mr. & Mrs. Robert Smethers
Ms. Theresa Spencer
*St. Johns St. Paul
Lutheran Church
*St. Luke’s Lutheran Church,
Cuyahoga Falls
Ms. Helen Stansfield
*Steels Corner
Community Church
Ms. Maureen Stevens
Mr. & Mrs. Robert Stouffer
Mr. & Mrs. Rodney Stout
+Stow-Glen Retirement Village
Dr. & Mrs. Richard Stratton
*Streetsboro United
Methodist Church
Mr. & Mrs. Ronald Swank
Tracy M. Terrell
Mr. & Mrs. Howard Tolley
*United Methodist Church
of Macedonia
*United Methodist Church
of Stow
Urban Vision Ministry
Ms. Monica Warren
Debbie Washington
Mr. & Mrs. Norbert Weisend
Mrs. Norma Wernowsky
Mrs. Helen Weyrick
Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Williams
* Covenant Church
+Community Partner
In Honor Of
Dorothy & Walter Starcher’s
50th Wedding Anniversary
by
The OPEN M Staff
In Honor Of
Dottie Marsh for her years of
service
by
Mrs. Marjorie Imperial
In Honor Of
Alynn Anzevino
by
Mr. & Mrs. Mark Miller
In Memory Of
Cora Gissendaner
by
Mr. & Mrs. Jack Doll
In Memory Of
Beulah Hess
by
Esther Circle Family of Faith
UMC
Building Blocks program helps get children
ready for kindergarten
OPEN M has
started its
early childhood
education
program, Building
Blocks, for
children ages 3 to
5. This program is
designed to help
children succeed
in school by
preparing them to enter kindergarten. This program promotes
intellectual well-being and builds social, emotional and physical
resources to help children be healthy and successful.
Through community collaborations, and enlisting help from
volunteers and the staff, OPEN M hopes to offer a variety of
classes and activities in order to reach these developmental
goals. Our major goals and objectives of the Building Blocks
program are in line with the Summit County’s First Things First
Initiative and the Ohio Department of Education’s Pre-K State
Standards. They are outlined below. GOAL
Create opportunities in a safe and nurturing environment where
children can learn and succeed in school.
OBJECTIVES 1. Enhance literacy skills
2. Expand conceptual development
3. Develop social emotional skills
4. Teach children to express
emotions and effectively
communicate
5. Promote physical health by using
small and large motor and muscle
groups through physical activity
6. Develop healthy nutritional habits
7. Promote family values and support by encouraging family
involvement
Building Blocks meets every Tuesday and Thursday from
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. If you have any questions contact Felicia
Bronner at [email protected], or by phone at 330-4340110, Ext. 410.
“Pajamas for Kids” Initiative
Oftentimes we never realize how many things we take for granted
in our daily lives. Sometimes the smallest things we barely
take note of are the things that others long for. When looking
forward to the upcoming holiday season, we start thinking about
Christmas and “wish lists.” Most children’s wish list consists of
games and toys. However, at OPEN M the kids usually ask for
necessities, such as pajamas. As we prepare for bed, we often
don’t appreciate the fact that we can go and change into a
warm pair of pajamas. A lot of children don’t have that privilege.
They sleep in their day clothes.
Mary had an idea to provide children in need with new pajamas
in order to help those children get a good night’s sleep. They
decided that partnering with OPEN M was a great way to begin.
Last Christmas, we were blessed to have two wonderful
volunteers take a major interest in our Christmas for the Love
of Children program. Lisa Becker and Mary Rinaldi gave a lot
of their time and talents to help our Christmas program run
smoothly. Before coming to volunteer with OPEN M, Lisa and
If you are interested in donating pajamas or have any
questions feel free to contact Lisa Becker or Mary Rinaldi at
[email protected] or Kariema Whitsett at
[email protected].
“Pajamas for Kids” is a program coordinated by our volunteers
Lisa and Mary and is in conjunction with the Christmas for the
Love of Children program. In addition to the food and gifts that
are currently given out at Christmas, the gift of pajamas will be
given to help ensure the children are kept warm at night this
winter season.
www.openm.org
7
OPEN M
941 Princeton Street
Akron, OH 44311
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit No. 1196
Akron, OH 44309
Return Service Requested
IMPORTANT DATES
Monday, October 1, 9:30 a.m.
Clinic open enrollment over phone
Tuesday, October 2, 8:30 a.m.
Pastor’s Appreciation Breakfast
Saturday, October 13, 9 a.m.
Monthly Membership Meeting
Friday, October 19, 9-11 a.m.
Mountain of Food
Thursday, October 25, 5 p.m.
Legal Aid
Friday, November 9
Fire and Ice Experience
Wednesday, November 21
Thanksgiving dinner at OPEN M
Christmas Food Collection List
OPEN M’s Christmas for the Love of Children program has two parts
to it. We have the gift portion where you can sponsor a family by
purchasing gifts for the children (2 gifts worth $25 per child). The
other part of the program is the food donation. Each family that comes
through our Christmas for the Love of Children program gets food that
will last them throughout the holidays. We hand out 200 food boxes
full of different types of “staple food pantry items.” We need your help
to fill these 200 boxes.
Check out our website at www.openm.org under Christmas for the
Love of Children tab, “Christmas food collection list,’’ fill out the form
and put the amount of items your group is committed to collect. Your
commitment can be from 1-200 items and for some items, we are
looking to collect 400. The deadline to deliver the food items to OPEN
M is Friday, November 30.
If you have any questions or concerns please contact Bobbie at
330-434-0110, Ext. 416, or by e-mail at [email protected].