The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
CHARITIES COUNTED ON
Residents relied on help in 2017
It is through philanthropic efforts that enable charitable organizations to support local residents and families in need.
As 2017 is coming to end, many nonprofit organizations in Lake County reflect on the past year’s donations, accomplishments and challenges.
Major Robert Bender, who has been the commander of the Salvation Army of Painesville for over two decades, said the community has been very generous, especially with the Red Kettles program.
While the totals have not yet been calculated this year, Bender said each year the donations increase, and he hopes that this trend continues.
“For 28 years my wife and I have always done better than the year before,” he said. “Last year donations (from the red kettles) exceeded $200,000.”
However, this year Bender said it was a challenge getting enough workers for the kettle program.
“We need more people next year,” he said. “These funds are so important. They support the many programs we offer.”
Social services, worship groups and numerous community programs, including an after-school learning center, weekly health care clinic and the Red Shield/ Homeless Program are all available at the Salvation Army in Painesville.
“What is really satisfying is that we’re playing an integral part of people’s lives,” he said. “People who were once living on the streets are now in apartments.”
The Red Shield program offers daytime shelter and a hot meal to men, women and children.
“We feed about 80 to 100 people a day,” Bender said. “We have a great, dedicated staff that helps this run smoothly.”
Remo Tucciarelli prepares the meals, and he believes it is his purpose to reach out and help people whether it is through talking to them, praying with them or serving them.
The Red Shield provides a safe environment where these individuals can become stable, confronting the issues contributing to their homelessness, according to the website.
Homeless Program Coordinator Steve Jacobs helps achieve this by connecting them to social services.
There are many great resources in Lake County and the collaboration between agencies is also good, he said.
“I think we do a good job meeting basic needs,” Jacobs said. “We’ve had a successful year.”
Bender adds that those who are not homeless are often a step away from that situation because they live “paycheck to paycheck.”
The medical, utility and food assistance helps individuals who are facing such emergency financial crisis.
Bender has set some ambitious expansion plans for 2018. He hopes to add a larger space for guests to congregate and have meals, a larger refrigerator and freezer and larger learning zone to accommodate more children. Bender would also like to offer a more comprehensive aftercare service to be able to follow-up with families after they leave the shelter.
In order to continue to provide the same level of service and expand programs, donations are always needed.
“We couldn’t do it without the people’s generosity,” he said. “We have to sustain ourselves. All of the money stays in the community.”
Another major charitable organization that is instrumental in meeting community needs is United Way of Lake County.
In June, United Way of Lake County President/ CEO Jennifer McCarty and
Community Impact Director Don Joss discussed how the funds will be distributed for fiscal year 2018.
UWLC is to distribute $1.2 million to support local programs, with Salvation Army Citadel being one of the top recipients.
UWLC also funded three new programs this year — Lifeline VITA, a free tax preparation service help to assist low-income families and individuals with filing their taxes, YMCA Summer Learning Program that provides researchbased literacy education while students are out of school during the summer, and Lake County General Health Project Dawn, a program that distributes Naloxone, also known as Narcan.
“With last year’s campaign, we raised over $2,525,354, a 10 percent increase over the previous year’s campaign,” said UWLC’s 2017 Campaign Chairman Mark Sutherland at the Community Giving Campaign in Sept. “This year, we’ve set a similar goal with another 10 percent increase, to $2,775,000.”
Recently, UWLC distributed $20,000 in food to 50 local food banks.
To make a donation or learn more about the Salvation Army of Painesville or United Way of Lake County visit neo.salvationarmy. org/northeastohio/ PainesvilleHome and uwlc.org.