One more reason to be thankful this year

Every once in a while, something happens that gives a renewal of belief.

Anyone who works in the non-profit, charitable sector understands that there are many hurdles and many disappointments to be dealt with and sometimes it can get pretty discouraging. When it comes to asking people to volunteer their time and talents, it can be particularly challenging. After all, everyone is so busy these days and with money as tight as it is with most people, we’re all working harder than we really want to, anyway.

Then, consider teenagers.

Any parent knows how hard it is to get a teen to do anything around the house and pitch in to get things done.

So, when 19 teenagers get up early enough to get to DXC by 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning to spend half a day doing good work for people they have never met, it’s really something very special.

That’s what happened last Saturday (Nov. 20) when the Honor Society students from Chaminade-Julienne donated their time and work to help us prepare the gift boxes that go out to our families at Christmas.

Each year, we put together gift boxes from donated articles so that our families are sure to have something for the holiday. Each box, given to the kids by Santa, who makes a special visit just for them, contains clothing, a toy or game or two, and, for the older kids, school supplies. Parents get gift bags with household items and some little luxuries thrown as much as we can. All of these items come from our generous donors from all over the country, and we are always very grateful for that generosity. And, even though the economic climate has, as with everywhere, resulted in fewer donations coming in this year, the C-J students did their best to make sure every child will have a good Christmas.

While some of the students put together the boxes – sorting through our cramped Christmas Room where we keep the clothing items, picking out just the right items for kids (“OH! Look at this! Isn’t it cute!”?) and getting them all to fit into a box – others put their creative talents to good use in making beautiful personalized Christmas cards to go in each box. About midway through the day, they two groups switched jobs so that everyone had a hand in the whole process.

Throughout the day, every single one of them was polite and they never stopped working, showing a maturity that really was admirable in people so young.

And, when the day was over, each and every one of them thanked us for letting them come and volunteer!

If that’s not enough to give you the Holiday Spirit, there’s more: we will be blessed again on Dec. 5 when a second group of C-J Honor Students come in to wrap the gifts and help us get them ready for the party on Dec. 11.

Sitting down to Thanksgiving Dinner this week, one of the blessings we can be thankful for are these wonderful young people who make it all worth it.

Where would we be without you?

Once again we have the happy task of reporting on some pretty great people who spent their free time here at DXC helping us help others. This time, the good news is doubled, though, since we had two groups in over two consecutive days.

Last Friday (October 22), we had three wonderful ladies from GE Capital come in to spend time with our students during the United Way’s Stay and Play Day. Diana Ayala-Thornhill, Stephanie Henderson, and Deannia Northcutt came in on their own time to spend a morning in our classrooms. The played with the students, helped the teachers and took part if crafts and games, all to the excitement of the kids and staff, alike.

The Stay and Play Day is a project of the Join Hands Miami Valley program at United Way. Volunteers come into child care sites, such as DXC, and take part in the classroom activities.

(For more information on the Join Hands Miami Valley program, go to http://www.liveuniteddayton.org/difference_day.php -- it’s a great way to get involved!)

The next day, eight students from the University of Dayton’s Center for Social Concern gave up their Saturday to come here and get dirty. These young people were among the hardest working and most cheerful volunteers we have had and pitched right in with even the toughest job. They sorted and put away donations, organized the Christmas, Supply, and Resource rooms, cleared everything out of the storage shed and put it back so we can actually move around in there now, gave the front doors a new coat of paint, along with repainting a wall in the Sesame Street Room, and even wiped down Mr. Thompson’s classroom chairs and tables. Dan Juozitis, Anna Kornowski, Kathe Saffire, Kelly Hanlon, Kathie Ma, Tom Marx, Brendan Lacey, and Michael McNamara prove that young people today are, indeed, involved and anxious to put their efforts to work making a better world.

In these times of hard economy, volunteering is more difficult for people who want to give their time to worthy causes. Many people have had to take second, and even third, jobs. Even those who have one job are working harder and are trying to stretch their paychecks farther than every before. That makes it harder to find time – and money – to drive back and forth to a site, and to find the energy to put into a volunteer activity.

At the same time, and for the same reason, having volunteers is not just important for non-profit organizations, it’s crucial. There’s not so much money available for NPOs now, no matter what the source, and things that normally might have had purchased services now rely on dedicated volunteers for completion. Things like janitorial jobs, filing, ground keeping, and a whole lot more, don’t stop needing attention because of a recession.

That’s why, when we have caring, concerned people who take time out of their weeks and spend their leisure time helping us out, we really want to make sure they know how much we appreciate it.

Saying “Thanks” is a simple thing to do, but meaning it – really meaning it – can make it more valuable. We wish we could give every one of our volunteers and donors wonderful gifts, but, in lieu of that, we want you all to know we are very grateful for everything you do.

And, yes, we really mean it.

Where have all the flowers gone?

It was a little late in the year, but we decided to go ahead and make use of the $200 grant from Montgomery County to improve the looks of our offices on Riverview Ave. Betsy had worked very hard to get that grant for us before she left, and we all felt that we could all do with a few flowers around the place. So Phil took the paperwork over to the North Dayton Garden Center where the people there enthusiastically helped him pick out just the right varieties to give our home a cheery, comfortable look. North Dayton Garden Center, located on Brandt Pike here in Dayton, by the way, is a family owned business and has been for 47 years. Anyway, Phil pulled into the driveway with the van loaded with plants. There were something like 60 pansies and 20 sedum plants and two mums. The dads stayed at the Garden center

The next day, Phil set to work preparing the area we had set aside for the garden. This involved stripping the grass from part of the area and then loosening the soil so it could be worked. He was sweaty and smelly afterward and no one really wanted to be around him for very long.

It took a couple more days before the weather allowed him to actually begin the actual planting, and, once started, it took almost a full day. This time Phil turned out sweaty, smelly and dirty and no one wanted to be around him then, either.

Everything was coming up roses – or rather, pansies – when disaster struck!

In all of the 89 years DXC has been a part of the Dayton Community, never was such a heinous crime committed! Over night – over night, mind you – DXC was viciously vandalized!



While we can’t be entirely sure, we strongly suspect the notorious and dreaded Varmint Gang – led by their ruthless Boss, Stoney “Smokes” Raccoon. An image captured on our closed circuit security camera (see below) would seem to back that up, although the faces are hidden. But it appears that not only Smokes, but his lieutenant, Bunny Hopp, and gang enforcer “Big Harry” Deal were the culprits.



This group of career criminals – well known for their sneak attacks on defenseless vegetation – swooped down on the freshly planted

As you can see, nearly every single blossom in the garden was cruelly ripped off and . . . well, heaven knows what horrible thing befell them.

All that was left were the eight plants that decorate our sign out front and the sedum. The Police suppose the street light out front deterred the vandals from completing their nefarious deed.

The police, of course, interviewed the gang member – shown below – and, as expected, they denied all knowledge of the crime.



“Youse ain’t got nuttin’ on me, coppers,” Raccoon said between puffs.

Hopp chimed in as well:

“Dis is a bum rap. I don’t even like no pansies!”

Deals refused to say anything without his lawyer being present.

We have uncovered mug shots of the gang (below) and if you see them in your neighborhood, please shoo them away immediately.

We say goodbye to some old friends and hello to some new ones

It’s been a while since we posted anything here and, first of all, we’re sorry. There have been a few changes and we’ve been doing some reorganizing.

First of all, Betsy, our Volunteer and Community Outreach Coordinator, has moved on to a new position with Hospice of Dayton where she’s very involved in working with the volunteers there and, from what we hear, doing a great job of it.

Drew, who was instrumental in forging new partnerships and connections with other groups, has also moved on. Drew is working with CityFolk through his association with the Fitz Center for Leadership in the Community and did great work on this year’s CityFolk Festival.

While we were sorry to say farewell to these family members, we’re happy to see them moving up and still doing great work.

At present, Sarah has been working with volunteers while Phil has been learning program management. He’s been given the responsibility of managing our new project associated with the GetUP Montgomery County program. Part of that county program is the 5-2-1-N/A health and fitness program. It promotes eating five daily servings of fruits and vegetables, getting less than two hours of inactive leisure time and one hour of physical activity every day, and cutting down to no, or almost no sugary drinks such as soda pop and drink mixes.

We’ve integrated the idea into every meal we serve here at DXC and are encouraging our staff and families to do the same at home. As part of this, Phil has developed a weekly newsletter that gives tips on how to make exercise fun and easy and how to eat well without spending a lot of money. There’s also a kids page that makes learning healthy habits fun. Phil is currently in the process of learning how to convert the newsletter into an email edition so we can get it out to more people. Anyone who would like to subscribe to it can get in touch with him at pgreene@daytonchristiancenter.org He’d be more than glad to put you on the list.

As we say goodbye to some of our family, we say hello to new member. Floyd Thompson comes to us with more than 15 years experience in education. He’s worked as a teacher in the Head Start Program, life skills, high school, adult education and Business College. He’s also had supervisory experience as a Head Start Administrator, and as a 504 Coordinator.

Floyd is the father of two children; Jamie and Antwan and attended both Wilberforce University and Wright State, majoring in Communications and Psychology. He is the proud recipient of the AmeriCorps National Service Award and we are very glad to have him join our family.

Floyd’s arrival is in conjunction with some other changes in the In God’s Hands Child Care. Our Ms. Goines has moved to working with preschool children along with Ms. D and

SWAT Team descends on DXC!

A SWAT team descended on DXC a couple of weeks ago, but it had nothing to do with a hostage situation or police.

Nearly 50 young volunteers from the American Baptist Women Ministry’s National conference in Columbus came to DXC to spend a Day of Service with us.

The conference’s slogan this year was “Strong Women Acting Together” or SWAT, for short, and except for the lack of weapons and the emergency circumstances, they certainly seemed to have the organization and dedication of their more militant counterparts.

The young women ranged in ages from early to mid-teens and were accompanied by their adult supervisors. They came from all over the country and there were even two sisters from Puerto Rico who spoke little or no English.

Having to abide by State Law, we divided them into two groups; one group, of girls 15 and older, stayed here at the main building and worked in the classrooms with the children and teachers under the coordination of Cardella. The other group went with me to the East Fifth Street site to volunteer their efforts on the Feed Dayton Urban Farm project we’re partnered with.

The group that stayed here at the main office, played and talked with the children here, helped teachers with their lessons, and gave the kids some much needed one-on-one mentoring. Some others helped out by cleaning and painting where needed, and making the place more presentable.

Everyone enjoyed doing craft projects and reading to the kids – and the kids loved it too. The learning was a two-way thing, though, because all the young girls in the group said they had enjoyed learning about our kids and what goes on in the classrooms.

At first, the smell of the compost and the thought of working in the dirt over on Fifth Street was not very appealing to the girls, but, as they listened to Ken Carman, Director of Feed Dayton and one of the most enthusiastic and knowledgeable people I know on urban farming, you could see them getting more excited about it. Soon, we had small groups of young women harvesting kale and banana peppers for the local food pantry, others kneeling in the rows pulling weeds, and still others filling buckets with compost and carrying them to their friends to be spread on the crops.

It was not a cool day and was overcast – rain eventually did cause us to cut the project short by just a few minutes – so there was a certain quantity of perspiration involved. Still, they never complained. She pitched in and did whatever was asked of them. Every once in a while, you’d here someone playing off their slogan, saying “Strong Women Digging in Dirt!” or “Strong Women Spreading Rotting Leaves!” The longer we went, the more creative and funny the slogans became.

We came back to the Main Office for lunch and then the young ladies helped out around here for a couple of hours before boarding the charter bus to return to Columbus. There were a few good natured comments about it being an “interesting” ride home as far as the aroma in the bus, and a contest to see who could be the first to call for a shower when they got back.

But in looking at the comment surveys after they had gone, it was very interesting to read that, almost universally, there was one complaint: “I wish we’d had more time so I could have done more.”

Maybe there is some hope for the next generation, after all.

Thanks, ladies – everything you did is greatly and truly appreciated.

We're getting noticed in high places!

We've had a few very busy days in the past week, and that's good.

The DXC/Feed Dayton Urban Farming Initiative has really taken off and we're attracting a lot of attention in high places with it.

Last Thursday, Ohio State Representative Peggy Lehner (R-37th District) paid us a visit and spent about two hours talking with us and Ken Carman, the director of Feed Dayton. And Treva Jenkins, Outreach Director for them.

Then, on Friday, Gary Abernathy, the District Representative for U.S. Senator George Voinovich (R-Oh) came to town to see us.

Finally, but certainly not least, Dayton City Commissioner Nan Whaley (D) stopped by to see what's going on.

In the mix were reporters from the Dayton Daily News and WDTN – Channel 2 News.

Ken is so knowledgeable and enthusiastic about developing urban farms to feed the hungry and homeless that it it's hard not to get excited about it just talking to him. All of our visitors – reporters included – left firm believers in our project and they all openly asked what they could do to advance the cause.

What Feed Dayton and DXC are trying to do goes beyond just feeding those here in Dayton who are in need. Make no mistake, that alone would be enough to demand respect. But we see much greater things in store.

For one thing, Feed Dayton and we want to make it easy for people at all levels to grow at least some of their own food. Study after study show that we can save money by having food grown nearby, but also that, the fresher the food, the more nutritious it is. Couple that with making a city like Dayton more self-sufficient and you have a win-win-win situation for everyone!

But wait! There's More!

The program itself is self-sufficient. Ken has been so resourceful that its now producing food and has cost him less than $20.

That's right – less than $20.

How he's done it is to use the resources around the city that are normally discarded or wasted; things like getting neighborhood residents to “donate” their fallen leaves and grass clippings; arranging with local tree trimmers to bring their wood chips to the farm and dump them for free, rather than playing to do it at a landfill; and bringing in manure from the county fairgrounds to use in his compost, saving the county some money by not having it hauled away commercially.

Using donated rain barrels, he catches the castoff water from the roof of our building for watering purposes rather than using city water.

When harvest times comes, he'll be in touch with neighborhood residents who will come over to help out in exchange for keeping 20% of everything they harvest.
So, who wouldn't get excited about a program like this?

All of this, we think, is a great model to use for other communities to do the same thing, so Ken and we spent a lot of time talking to both Rep. Lehner and Mr. Abernathy about how we can “export” the model to do good things in more places. Ohio needs to lead the way in innovation and forward thinking and this is a great place to start, both our guests agreed.

Who knows? It may just be that cities all over the country might one day be doing what we're doing here – all because we believed.

Come Out and Celebrate Spring with Us!

Spring has finally come, it seems, and we're all just as happy here as everyone else. In fact, we wanted to celebrate the early days of Spring with a our friends and friends-to-be, so we came up with a day set aside just for that. We're calling it Family Fun Day and we see it as a chance for people to get out and enjoy a (hopefully) warm Spring day and also have a chance to learn a few things about health, safety, and wellness.

In fact, it has taken off and flown much higher than we expected. Last week, United Health Solutions (who oversees the AmeriCorps program here in Dayton) contacted us and asked to make Family Fun Day its official AmeriCorps Week project! Of course, we agreed right away and as a result, we're getting a lot of very good people attending to help us out.

Even before AmeriCorps came on board, we had some pretty good partners in this: The Dayton Fire Department is going to have a truck and some firefighters there to let the kids get a look at what being a firefighter is all about, and to give tips on how to make y9our home safer from fire.

Also, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office is going to have child ID kits and other information, plus McGruff the Crime Dog is going to be wandering about having fun with the kids.

The American Red Cross of Dayton, Dayton Children's Medical Center, the Children's Hunger Alliance, and United Way and the Power Mobile are all going to be in there too.

But don't get the idea that it's going to be all business! We've got some great games and activities planned and giveaways too!

There's going to be a balloon toss and balloon stomp , face painting, and a ducky pool – see a theme developing here (wear clothes you don't mind getting wet!)?

Free bike helmets are going to be given away for kids 12 and under on a first-come-first-served basis, and there's more: King's Island has given us two free tickets to give away; Cassano's has coupons for free pizza, and Subway sandwiches has coupons for free subs. Plus, the Dayton Dragons is giving us gift bags with free Dragons hats and shirts, and a few free tickets to see a game!

All of this is going to take place at the Dayton Leadership Academy, 1416 W. Riverview Ave in Dayton and we really want to thank them for offering their facilities so we can hold the Fun Day rain or shine.

So come on out and share a day with us. It's going to run from 10 a.m. To 5 p.m. And it's going to be a whole lot of fun!

See you there.