Recycling soda cans

A huge KAH Cincinnati Thank You goes out to Rachel L!!!

After discovering she can raise 50 cents per pound for aluminum, Rachel collected $27.50 worth of aluminum cans......all of which she donated to KAH Cincinnati! And not to stop there, Rachel and her family suggested placing special KAH recycling bins to raise even more money to feed starving children. Thank you Rachel!!!

Nov 20 update

The volunteers last Saturday did a super job and manufactured a total of 78,408 meals (11 pallets). A special thank you to the teams from Texas Roadhouse and Mason schools who were both at the factory packing food last Saturday. The funds they raised will greatly assist our effort to feed the hungry!

The production on 11/20 pushed our total production to date to 4,312,008 meals.

November has also been an active month for shipments. We shipped locally to Shared Harvest in Fairfield and the Freestore Food Bank.

Internationally, KAH Cincinnati made shipments as follows:
11/11/10 – Swaziland (shipment to our several partners) – 285,120 meals
11/22/10 – Swaziland (Nazarene Ministries) – 285,120 meals
11/23/10 – Nicaragua – 285,120 meals
KAH Cincinnati shipped a total of almost 900,000 meals in November. We need to thank Don Tedrick and Ron Whitmer for their assistance in helping to get these shipments out the door.

Because we sometimes get donations from other KAH locations that don’t have the ability to ship what they produce, our total shipments now exceed our production, KAH Cincinnati has now shipped a total of 4,444,200 meals.

Everyone from KAH Cincinnati wishes you a blessed Thanksgiving.
Thank you for all your support.

Nov 6, 2010 Update

The pack last Saturday at Messiah Lutheran Church went very well and the three teams packed a total of 61,992 meals. We need to thank everyone who volunteered and were a part of this effort.

To learn more about remote packs, please visit: KAH Packing At Your Place.

The production of 61,992 meals on November 6th pushed our total production to 4,233,600 meals!! We also have made several shipments over the last 10 days totaling 32,832 meals, all going to local organizations (Reach Out Lakota, Shared Harvest and the Free store Food Bank).

This morning we expect to load our next large shipment, a ship container with 285,120 meals headed for Swaziland.

Thank you Abby!

Below is a picture of our friend Abby with her mom and brother. Not only did they help pack life saving meals on October 23, but Abby took the initiaive to help raise money to pay for the supplies!

Abby raised over $100 with a bake sale and then raised the rest by talking to people at different businesses in her local community as well as asking for donations at the local Kroger!

Thank you Abby!!!!

In the words of our executive director, Larry Bergeron:

I met Abby, her Mom and brother this past Sat. What an inspiring person! She handed me a peanut butter jar with $220.25 in it. I believe that she stood at Kroger's asking for help outside. Pretty inspiring young lady!!

Be the Church Day

Last Saturday was "Be the Church Day" at KAH-Cincinnati! Between 800 & 900 people from 35 different Cincinnati area Nazarene churches all came together to help pack over 243,000 meals. This group of very polite, orderly and selfless volunteers helped us surpass a total of 4 million meals. Thank you to all of you for all you do!!!

Miami Township video interview regarding the Milford Grand Opening

Grand Opening to Help Orphans in Africa

A Child's Hope Int'l, is pleased to announce the Grand Opening of the Kids Against Hunger "Factory" in their New Location in Milford, OH. on Saturday, Sept 25, 2010 from 9 AM to 3 PM.

Given the lack of life saving food for orphans in many parts of Africa, the Kids Against Hunger Grand Opening at their new Milford location will launch their Fall 2010 campaign to help feed starving children in the tiny African country of Swaziland.

Everyone is encouraged to sign up NOW for their packing session by Registering Online. Come and be a part of an amazing experience that will literally save the lives of desperately hungry children.

A maximum of 250 people per session will be allowed on a first come, first serve basis. More details about this family friendly program can be found online at Kids Against Hunger.

For this one-time grand opening event, no minimum donations are required- just give what you can to help feed children at risk. The goal for this Grand Opening event is at least 100,000 meals. The 18 lines of production will fill quickly so register early by Registering Online for Sat, Sept 25.

Even if you cannot stay for the packing session on Sept 25, come and see how this 'elegantly simple" process works and why over 10,000 volunteers have already been to the "Factory". In just 2 years of operation, over 3.5 million meals have been packaged by people from 3 to 83 working together to Heal the World of painful hunger.

Learn more about the orphans of Swaziland on our Grand Opening page.

A Child's Hope International and the Kids Against Hunger "Factory" have been actively involved in feeding children throughout Ohio, Appalachia, Haiti, Central America and various countries within Africa. They were featured in a special article called Reaching Out to Haiti in the Sunday edition of the Cincinnati Enquirer on March 21, 2010

Please email your questions or offer to help to kah@achildshopeintl.org

Thank you.

Update on recent shipments

While many are getting the new factory ready, your Cincinnati KAH team was also busy last week making shipments:

On Monday a ship container left Cincinnati with 235,224 meals and 6 pallets of relief supplies going to Children's Intl Lifeline - Haiti.

On Tuesday a ship container left Cincinnati with 277,992 meals and 2 pallets of relief supplies going to Children's Cup Swaziland.

On Friday a ship container left Cincinnati with 242,352 meals and 7 pallets of relief supplies going to Children's Intl Lifeline - Haiti.

While each of these shipments is consigned to just one organization, they are being shared by many partners in Haiti and Swaziland. We also need to thank Dan, Don, and Mike who all helped in the loading of these ship containers. This is an interesting task - sometimes like a jigsaw puzzle trying to get everything to fit!!

KAH Cincinnati shipped a total of 775,568 meals last week!

One other important point, with these three shipments we have now shipped more meals (3,547,368) than we have produced (3,540,240). This is because other KAH organizations in this area sometimes have no way to ship the material they produce in smaller packs and they donate those meals to KAH Cincinnati.


We also need to thank Bill Mead for being the "go to" person for Ethicon. The Ethicon team of some 25 packed our whole Blue Ash factory in a little over 5 hours, what a blessing. This will make our move from Blue Ash much easier - Thank you Bill!

Saturday, July 17

Our last pack at our Blue Ash "factory" sure was a good one! Our volunteers produced a total of 121,176 meals - that is pretty close to 1/2 of a trailer load! This puts our total production to date well past 3.5 Million meals, 3,540,024 meals produced to be exact.

KAH Cincinnati also made a shipment on Saturday as Ernie Burke picked up 14,256 meals for an outreach by a team headed to Harlan, Kentucky. The team is taking our food as well as shoes, socks and back packs full of school supplies for over 250 kids in an elementary school located in Harlan.

We also now have over 1 million meals in inventory which will begin to leave Cincinnati as trucking and ship containers can be arranged. Some will be going to Africa and more going to Haiti as soon as the ports are cleared.

We're moving (again)!!

A Child's Hope Int'l, is pleased to announce that they will be moving from their current location to a new location only 15 minutes northeast of the Blue Ash "Factory". More details will be announced soon. An electrical and plumbing contractor is needed for some special work at the new location prior to completing the move. Also, donations of paint and supplies. Can you help? Please email your questions or offer to help to kah@achildshopeintl.org

Our exodus from Blue Ash to the new "Factory" will begin after the July 17 pack. The July 31, Aug 14 & Aug 28 packs will be canceled and then those guests invited to a Sept or Oct session if their schedule allows. At this time our plan is to have our first pack on Sat, Sept 11. And then our Grand Opening on Sat, Sept 25.

Thank you for all your support!

Haiti 5K results

Yesterday, Larry had the pleasure of attending the "check passing" at Oak Hills High School from the Haiti 5k. To the for left is Lyn Oliver who worked very hard to get all the details in place for the race....thanks Lyn! On the far right is Ann Ryan who had the original idea of having this event....thanks Ann! She came to the "factory" during our emergency Haiti packs and was greatly impacted by the entire event.

Channel 5 News was also at the "check passing". Ann expressed to them how she was told not to expect more than 150 runners, but that almost 400 runners and walkers showed up. She was told that they would most likely not raise their goal of $10,000, but they raised over $12,000!!! Ann mentioned to Channel 5 that the students and the staff of the high school as well as the district and many other supporters loved the project - it gave them purpose and a mission.

Hopefully many others will follow their lead.

Thank you to everyone involved with this event!

Kids Against Hunger aid group seeks home - Cincinnati Enquirer 6-11-10

Relocation

Kids Against Hunger "Factory" Needs a New Space

Popular Cincinnati program that feeds starving children must relocate

Cincinnati, June 9, 2010: People from Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky and Dayton love the Kids Against Hunger program and the "Factory". So much so, that they have produced over 3.5 million high protein meals with 10,000 volunteers in just 2 years.

Now just as the demand for more food for children has increased, the lease with the current building ends in August. As a result, A Child's Hope International and Kids Against Hunger must move to a new "Factory" as soon as possible.

The greater Cincinnati area has an above average abundance of vacant and available commercial property. For that reason, this very popular charity is optimistic that a property management company, business owner, donor or group will graciously help relocate the "Factory" with little or minimal costs. The basic requirements for the "Factory" are:

· 15,000 sq. feet with a dock height loading dock

· A/C, heated, clean, visible frontage with parking for 60 cars

· Preferably in the Blue Ash, Springdale, or West Chester central corridor

Neal Sundermann, founder of Cincinnati Commercial Realtors, is assisting this endeavor and can be contacted by brokers and agents with any questions.

Download the full portfolio of information here. Upon request, additional background information can be sent to interested donors. Send inquiries and offers to help to kah@achildshopeintl.org. A copy of the press release can be downloaded here.

Those interested are asked to consider a financial gift to help cover a property lease which may be an option. This may be done online, easily and securely at DonateNow. Specify Where Needed in the Contribution option. A long term, below market rate lease may be possible.

The current Kids Against Hunger "Factory" is located in Towne Center in Blue Ash, just 15 miles north of Cincinnati. The "Factory" is a former grocery store provided by the Kroger Company in support of A Child's Hope International - a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization that serves the orphans of the world, the children in foster care and all hungry and vulnerable children. Kids Against Hunger is a program of A Child's Hope International. The Kroger Company has been an active supporter of A Child's Hope International for the past two years through the use of their store in Liberty Township and now the Blue Ash location.

Kids Against Hunger is the only program that feeds a starving child a high protein meal for just 25¢ a day. This incredible achievement (just 25¢ a day) has been accomplished through intentional efforts to enlist volunteers, minimize paid staff, maintain minimal overhead and keep fixed costs extremely low. Each volunteer that serves for just 2 hours can produce enough food to feed 1 child for 1 year. Through the generosity of the Kroger Company of Cincinnati and Berean Christian Stores in West Chester, countless children have lived another day.

KAH in Honduras

Above is a picture of Pastor Lester Jones from Countryside Community Church in Lebanon. He is carrying one of the KAH boxes packed at the Berean Christian Stores "Factory" location in August 2009. It arrived in Honduras, February 2010. They love the food and want more!

Saturday May 22, 2010

Saturday was a record pack!! 112,756 meals were packed with two fairly full shifts. We have now produced a total of 3,270,024 meals. So you will understand that local needs exist, Foundation Builders will be picking up 7,128 meals (full pallet) early next week for distribution in central Ohio and a large portion of that will go to a food pantry that is running low on food.

Italian Luncheon Benefit

Thank you to everyone at Acosta for the donation of $811!! The staff of Acosta prepared an Italian lunch buffet for ALL the employees in the building. Employees paid $5 for a plate of food. All the food was donated by some of the staff. Great, simple idea!

A thank you letter from Honduras

In case the letter is difficult to read, it states:

Dear Larry,

On behalf of Shoulder to Shoulder and the poor in Honduras, I would like to sincerely thank you for your donation of 6 palates of food. We recently tested the blood of several hundred children in our service area and found 80% to be malnourished. This is far and above the public figures that make the situation in rural Honduras seem not so dire. This problem in the young kids makes for permanent disability because the lack of brain development caused by malnutrition is something that cannot be recovered in later years. With the cost of food climbing all over the world in the last year, this situation is becoming even more severe for those that do not have the resources to help themselves. Thanks to you and your organization, the food that you have donated helps the children in their critical, formative years. You are making a lasting improvement in those that need it the most.

I have attached some examples of the people you are are helping.

Sincerely
Arthur J Ranz D.D.S.
COO Shoulder to Shoulder
Intibuca, Honduras
www.ShouldertoShoulder.org

Fundraising in Hard Economic Times: how one person’s story saves the lives of starving children

Fundraising in Hard Economic Times: how one person’s story saves the lives of starving children

Carrie Christos

Just how hard is it to raise $20,000? Ask Stephanie Janssen, who raised $12,000 and then another $8,000 for Kids Against Hunger, a Cincinnati based program that supplies nourishing, life saving food to hungry children here and around the world. At 25 cents a meal, the $20,000 Stephanie helped to raise provided around 80,000 life-saving meals to children. At the Kids Against Hunger “factory”, currently located in Blue Ash, Ohio, teams of volunteers pack four ingredients – fortified soybean, essential vitamins and minerals, vegetables and rice – into each Kids Against Hunger packet.

In November 2009, Stephanie witnessed this packing firsthand when she served as a chaperone for her church youth group. Seeing the excitement of the group as they packed, and impressed with how tangible the results were, she began to talk with another chaperone and friend, Joel Mortensen, about organizing a future pack. That evening, while the youth group enjoyed ice cream, they talked further and agreed to raise $12,000 for the pack. Later that night, she looked up Kids Against Hunger online, contacted Larry Bergeron, founder and executive director of A Child’s Hope International, the umbrella for Kids Against Hunger, and communicated her interest.

The first $12,000 was not difficult, she says. She found a donor willing to match $6,000, then both she and Joel agreed to each try to find six people who would donate $500, for a total of 12 donors to come up with the remaining $6,000. They found five donors of $500, and made up the rest with smaller donations. Those not able to contribute treasures were asked if they could volunteer the day of the pack and bring family and friends with them, or help raise money with her. The turnout of 200 volunteers at the first pack was amazingly inspiring, and at the first pack, the sentiment of both kids and adults was, “We have to do more, we can’t just leave it at this.” A second pack was arranged, one that would raise an additional $8,000 for a total of $20,000.

Stephanie believes that while anyone can raise money, the key to fundraising success is not in finding large donors or having experience, but in being excited about the cause and then personally sharing the message. Most people are not approached individually, she says. “When Cub Scouts sell popcorn, part of what they learn is that 7 out of 10 people asked will buy popcorn.” Similarly, when people tell their friends, neighbors or acquaintances, “I’m working on this project, I’m raising money right here in Cincinnati for this thing that I’m doing, can you help out?”, she has found that almost everyone will help out in some way.

In this economy, everywhere you turn these days someone seems to have their hands outstretched for funds. Individuals are bombarded with fundraising messages via email, direct mail, television, and radio asking for money for a special and albeit worthwhile cause. Stephanie’s personal approach especially paid off for the second pack, since she had exhausted many of the big donors she used for the first fundraising campaign. “Some can afford to do $5, some can do $500, many can do $20, $25 or something in between, but the most important thing is that they are asked personally.”

Another key to fundraising success is believing in the message. Stephanie is impressed with the amount of time that has been put into the research and development of the Kids Against Hunger food mixture, which was invented by Richard Proudfit in collaboration with Kids Against Hunger, Cargill, Pillsbury, General Mills, and Archer Daniels Midland. Designed to reverse the starvation process, help restore health, and improve a child's mental and physical alertness, it is sometimes the only food they will receive that day – or that week. Without this food, children in Haiti and other struggling areas often rely on “mud cookies”, full of dirt, vegetable oil, salt, animal waste and parasites, simply to stop the pain of starvation. She’s touched by the stories founder Larry shares with his packing volunteers, such as a recent trip to an orphanage in Haiti where he distributed food. “They may not have eaten for 3 or 4 days, and may not eat for another 3 or 4 days, but everyone waited patiently. There was no pushing or shoving to get food faster. Everyone waited their turn for their food and savored each bite.”

Back home, as the food pallets line up to be shipped to those in need, kids here can visually see how the dollars are being used. Parents love the opportunity for their family to go and do something together. So many families are so busy. “It doesn’t require a huge time commitment. You don’t have to organize your own pack, and you don’t have to contribute $500 if you can’t. You can come to the factory, pack for two hours and leave feeling inspired and knowing you’ve made a difference.”

For more about Kids Against Hunger, visit http://www.hungernomore.us

Creative Ways to Make a Difference....at any age

Thank you to Phil (pictured below) who set up a "one man concession stand" at one of Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy's basketball games. Due to his efforts, he raised enough money through sales and cash donations to feed 2 children for an entire year! ($250)

Also, a thank you goes out to the group of 12 boys who set up a "school store". They came in came to school early and sold school supplies (pencils, pens, paper, etc.) to students before first bell. Their efforts generated $160.00!

Finally, a big thank you to CHCA teacher Melissa Reisinger who challenged these young men to find ways to make a difference!

3 MILLION MEALS!

Between the pack at Urbancrest Baptist Church on April 24th and the two food packing shifts on Saturday Arpil 26th, the volunteers packed a total of 135,432 meals. Sometime early Saturday afternoon we crossed the 3 million meal mark and KAH Cincinnati has now produced 3,063,744 meals for hungry kids all over the world!

Thank you to everyone has given of their time, talents, and/or treasures!

Fund raising success!

Recent fund raising success stories:

1. At a local school, 1st - 6th graders each raised $10 to feed 1 child for 1 month. Total raised = $2,000!

2. Last Sunday, a youth group sponsored an ice cream social and raised $250. Then the youth pastor sponsored a "Pie the Pastor" event and raised another $250!!

Thank you to all of you for supporting our mission of feeding starving children here, there, and everywhere!

Bowling & Golfing for KAH

Please take note of these 2 fund raising activities, they promise to be fun and help raise even more funds & awareness of the Kids Against Hunger mission!

Reaching Out To Haiti from the Cincinnati Enquirer

This article can be found in its entirety here. Videos and pictures can also be found by following that link.

Reaching Out To Haiti
Two months after the quake, hunger, illness and homelessness threaten to break a wounded people
Stories by MARK CURNUTTE, mcurnutte@enquirer.com •
Photos by CARRIE COCHRAN, ccochran@enquirer.com •
March 22, 2010

They slogged toward the airport, lugging suitcases or balancing mattresses on their heads, lured by the promise of help. They came by the tens of thousands.

Blank expressions on their faces, they hoped to get some of the food and water they knew was arriving daily.

They didn't.

Despite the crush of international aid and relief workers, many Haitians still get little or no relief two months after the Jan. 12 earthquake.

Instead, they've settled in crude shelters - fashioned from sticks, bedsheets, blue tarps and rust-streaked corrugated tin - that rim the airport's security fence........................

Child's Hope International, founded by a former Mason church pastor, Larry Bergeron, has assembled millions of high-protein meals in its Blue Ash "factory," a former Kroger grocery store, and shipped them around the world since its creation in 2008. Hundreds of thousands of them have gone to Haiti.

Bergeron, a member of Urbancrest Baptist Church in Lebanon, went to Haiti with three other church members last month to distribute 300,000 more meals. The 40-foot container, which he had been told had arrived in the Caribbean Sea port at St. Marc, instead had not gotten out of Florida.

He shipped to St. Marc in an attempt to avoid the indiscriminate tariffs slapped on aid by the Haitian government in Port-au-Prince.

Still, Bergeron borrowed 75 boxes of food he shipped late last year to a Clay City, Ky.,-based ministry with a Haitian mission.

Rethinking everything

One of the programs at the Children's International Lifeline center employs 20 women who make purses, aprons and clothing. In a room in a vocational school at the compound, women from the surrounding villages learn how to sew on foot-powered machines. They then graduate and join a manufacturing co-op that pays them a salary, a third of which goes into a mandatory savings account that allows them to buy the sewing machine.

"Otherwise, it's going to be an empty hole," said Don Curtis, of Clay City, who runs Lifeline. "We have to rethink how we do things; we have to help Haitian people make a better life for themselves. It has taken us years to get to this point. We had to essentially help bring up a new generation of Haitians."

Bergeron distributed 50 boxes of the borrowed food to the FOCAS-supported school in Calebasse. The remaining 25 boxes went to the Ebenezer Orphanage in the seaside town of Montrouis. It's run by a pastor and his wife, who have four of their own children. They've taken in 23 orphans and have struggled, since the earthquake, to feed them on a daily basis.

Bergeron, 61, visited the orphanage twice during his visit last month. The dirt compound lies behind a wire fence and a locked iron gate.

A church made from coconut leaves stands at the front of the property. A classroom and kitchen were built onto the back. Farther up the hill, the main house sleeps the family and children, as many as 16 on floor mats in a single room.

Bergeron spotted a vacant lot next to the orphanage and envisions a small farm that could teach the children agricultural skills and provide food for the orphanage. It could be landscaped to prevent erosion in heavy rains. An existing well could be dug deeper to ensure cleaner water. He planned to give the 40-foot sea container to the orphanage for housing.

The lot owner wanted $50 a month rent for the land for a guaranteed 10-year lease.

Bergeron, who has visited impoverished areas of Africa and Russia, had been to Haiti previously, and he has seen no situation as desperate as that in the Caribbean nation.

He focused on the possibilities at Ebenezer so as not to be overwhelmed by the enormity of Haiti's problems.

"We have to help people learn to help themselves," he said. "It took a long time to get into this situation. You have to start by trying to change the lives of children. You pick one project. It's almost like creating a firebreak to fight a forest fire. You draw a line and try to save some of the trees.

"I look at the level of brokenness and decay and think it might take 100 years to see a significantly better society."

Help Haiti 5K Run Walk

Help Haiti 5K Run Walk
Sunday, May 16th, 2010 3:00 p.m.
Oak Hills High School, Cincinnati, OH

Help Haiti - Run for their Lives

Join us Sunday, May 16, 2010 at 3:00 pm for a 5K Run/Walk and party
To benefit A Child's Hope International - Kids Against Hunger

Bill Hemmer - Master of Ceremonies
Featuring "The Menus" - Entertainment following the race

Register Online at GetMeRegistered.com

WHAT: 5K (3.1 miles) Run/Walk

BENEFICIARY: A Child's Hope International - Kids Against Hunger

WHEN: Sunday, May 16th 3:00 p.m.

WHERE: Oak Hills High School, Cincinnati, OH

COURSE: 5K Course (just over three miles) begins and ends at Oak Hills High School.

RUN DIVISIONS: 14/under, 15-18, 19-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-59, 60-64, 65-69 and 70/over.

WALK DIVISIONS: 29/under, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69 and 70/over.

AWARDS: Top male and female runners and walkers. Age group awards to the top 15% of each run/walk division. Awards presented immediately following the race/walk.

AWARDS CEREMONY: Overall Winners will be recognized Immediately following the Race

MUSIC AND ACTIVITIES:

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

1:30 Registration and Number pick up begins

2:00 Oak Hills Band Birdfinder performs

3:00 Race Starts / D.J. Bill Dattilo

3:45 Bill Hemmer and Larry Bergeron

4:00 The Menus!!

Come early and stay for the day!

REFRESHMENTS: Willl be provided for all race participants after the race.

EMAIL ADDRESS: All Pre-registered entries that include a valid email address will receive an email confirmation of registration prior to the race and will receive their individual results via email.

PRE-REGISTRATION FEE: $15 without a T-shirt or $25 with a T-shirt. Mail-in entries must be postmarked by Monday, May 10th.

T-SHIRTS: Race T-shirts are optional. T-shirts are $10 each while supplies last.

RACE DAY REGISTRATION: Race-day Registration: $20 without a T-shirt or $30 with a T-shirt (while supplies last).

REGISTER ONLINE: Click here to register online at GetMeRegistered.com with a credit card through Thursday, May 13th. A small service fee will be added to your bill. This is the easiest way to go.

REGISTER BY MAIL: Register by Printing a PDF Race Brochure and Mailing. Printable Race Brochure (PDF). This is the cheapest way to go. Mail-in entries must be postmarked by Monday, May 10th.

LATE REGISTRATION and NUMBER PICK UP: Saturday, May 15th from 12-3pm at the High School. Race Day prices apply at late registration so if you know you are coming, register early.

REGISTER ON RACE DAY: Race-Day Registration and Number Pickup: begins at 1:30 a.m. at Oak Hills High School.

***** NO REFUNDS****

OAK HILLS HIGH SCHOOL: Oak Hills is located at 3200 Ebenezer, Cincinnati, OH. It is on the West Side of Cincinnate, West of Glenway between Werk Road and Bridgetown Road.

GOOGLE: 3200 Ebenezer, 45248 for directions from your location.

PARKING: Ample Free Parking available at the High School.

Register Today!

Still have questions? Call Greg McCormick at 513.652.6225 for more information

Register Online at GetMeRegistered.com

Fashion Fundraiser Helps Feed Haiti

Fashion Fundraiser Helps Feed Haiti

Reported by: Larry Shields
Email: larry.shields@wcpo.com
Photographed By: Phyliss Ho
Photographed By: Larry Shields

NEWPORT, Ky -- High fashion helped feed hungry children all over the world this Saturday at The Syndicate.

The fundraiser, "Catwalk For Haiti," brought a slice of California culture to the Commonwealth.

Cincinnati native Jonathan Chia organized the event with his business partner Ashley Covarrubias. Their Los Angles companies Production Runway and Chia Media produced the event.

"A lot of people in Cincinnati have never been to a fashion show, so they really don't know what they get from their money," said Chia.

Each $20 ticket went directly to the Cincinnati charity "Kids Against Hunger," a program at Liberty Township-based, "A Child's Hope International."

"They send over rice, so two hours of your time, packaging the rice will feed someone for a whole year," Covarrubias explained. "So, by donating money and our time, hopefully we can feed a couple 100,000 people."

Chia says he got the idea for the show because he served as a solider with someone from Haiti.

"That kinda inspired me and Ashley to go out and do what we do -- which is fashion shows, but aim it a little bit towards helping out -- giving back to the community," said Chia.

The article and video can be found online here.

1,000,000 meals for Haiti

Dear Friend,

We had to share this news with you because it is so amazing! With your help, over 1,000,000 Kids Against Hunger meals have been shipped or will ship shortly to the children of Haiti through the Kids Against Hunger "Factory" in Cincinnati.

We will cross this amazing milestone of 1,000,000 meals this Saturday morning, March 20 . You may hear the celebration where you live when the shouts go up from the "Factory".

These 1,000,000 meals have used over 72 tons of ingredients: vitamins, minerals, dried vegetables, soy protein, and rice.

Nearly 6,000 volunteer hours were required to produce this amount of food. Add to that the contributions by the Red Shirt Team and you have to say it's amazing!

Each of us can offer hope for the helpless in Haiti.
Find out more at: www.HungerNoMore.us

Did you know that just $10 will provide healthy food for 1 hungry child for 1 month?

10 for 1

That's all it takes. Just $10 to save 1 child from the pain of hunger. It is easy to signup online to help. A minute of your time will change a child's life for a month, year or whatever you decide.

All of us who serve the least of these are very thankful for your time, talents and treasures invested at the "Factory". Thank you!

Young people can make a difference

Inspired by our last blog post, I thought I would post a handful of pictures of more young people who are making a difference. Each of the photos above display young men and women, who on their own initiative, decided to raise money for Kids Against Hunger - Cincinnati. Each of them filled a collection box and gave 100% of the collection to KAH! Some of them shoveled snow for donations while some simply went door to door telling neighbors about KAH's mission, but bottom line, they all made a difference. They made a difference by providing the funds to feed starving children and are a great example for the rest of us. They have proved that you aren't too young to help...and likewise, you aren't too old to help, you aren't too busy to help, you aren't too tired to help, you aren't too "______" (you fill in the blanks) to help. We can all do something to make a difference.

Thank you again to the three examples above!

If you are familiar with who these three are, please comment below and tell us more about them! We'd love to hear more about their story of how they collected the donations.

Haiti Marketplace

A HUGE thank you goes to Kathy Stauffer from Columbus, OH for her support of Kids Against Hunger! After the devastating earthquake in Haiti, she felt compelled to do something to help the people that were suffering. Desiring to make a difference, Kathy helped organize a fundraiser at an elementary school that raised $4,070, half of which went to Kids Against Hunger - Cincinnati! The $2,035 contribution to KAH will purchase the ingredients to produce 8,140 meals, or enough nutritious Kids Against Hunger food packets to feed almost 23 starving children for ONE YEAR!!!!

Here's her story, in her own words:

The event was put together in just over four weeks. My family is not involved in the Roots and Shoots organization that is mentioned in the article. The day after the earthquake in Haiti, I was totally overwhelmed with the things I was seeing on the news. I prayed and prayed for the many people there. But, I also prayed if there was something else my family and I could do. I got on the internet and found Kids Against Hunger. I had never heard of it before that day. I also talked to a few teachers at my children’s school to see if they had plans to do anything. That is how I got hooked up with the Root and Shoots group.

I attended their meeting on January 22nd. As the kids brainstormed many ideas of how they could help, one girl said, we could put all these together and have a marketplace. Throughout the next week the adults decided we could take on this venture and the planning began. I wish you could have been there to see how the how Wickliffe School community came together to make this happen.

There was ANOTHER snow storm that had started a few hours before the event began but that did not stop people from coming out. As families entered the front doors there were signs about Kids Against Hunger, a donation box for consumables, along with the video you sent me trailed by a Kirk Franklin “Help Haiti” video. About ½ hour into the night, the drum circle came out and joined us at the entry so kids could participate in playing bongos and other drums together. It was quite fun. Those who entered the gym could bid on silent auction items such as art by local professional artist, restaurant gift cards and more. The silent auction alone made almost $1,000. There were a few rows of tables with handmade crafts, jewelry, t-shirts and more. There were a few Caribbean musicians playing next to the market place then a long row of dinner items that had been donated by local restaurants and stores. ALL the money made went to the fund.

Outside of the gym there was a bake sale, hot chocolate stand, face painting, a puppet show and story reading of Haitian folklore and some games. It took many volunteers. But, the night was a success. Many people want to “do” something because there hearts were filled with grief for the people of Haiti This event gave them a way to contribute.

A local newspaper wrote an article of the event, you can find the article here.

Thanks Kathy!

Larry's trip to Haiti - Feb 2010

From ACHI/KAH Cincinnati's Executive Director, Larry Bergeron:

Dear Friend,

I just returned from a lengthy trip to various parts of Haiti to see first hand the destruction, the needs and how YOU have made a life saving difference in the lives of many children. We were able to serve Kids Against Hunger food that you provided through your donations or that you packed at the "Factory". Thank you!

The magnitude of the destruction is beyond what you can imagine. Although I expected to see a fleet of ships bringing food and supplies to the ports, there were only a few ships. Although I expected to see many cargo planes circling the airport to land, there were only a few planes.

Estimates say that it will take 1000 very large trucks, working 24 hours/day for 3 years to remove the broken concrete. Those trucks are not there. As such, one collapsed building after another remain as tombs for countless thousands of people.

We stored boxes of food in a damaged school in a village which had not received any food or water supplies since the earthquake. The Haitian Government reports that 48% of the children in this region die from the effects of severe malnutrition. And this was before the earthquake. All over this small country, acute hunger is becoming more of a nightmare than ever before.

Although the press and the media have moved on to cover other stories, please know that the crisis continues.

Here is how you can help:

1. Stop by any Fifth Third Bank and make a teller donation. Instruct them to deposit your tax deductible gift to A Child's Hope Int'l. All Fifth Third branch offices are prepared to help you. Send us an email of your gift amount and we will reply with a tax deductible receipt.
2. Give online TODAY through our secure web site service with electronic checks or credit cards at DonateNow
3. Click on Haiti Quake Relief for more information

Please email your questions about packing schedules and opportunities to our Volunteer Coordinator.

More than ever before, the children of Haiti need help and hope for the future

Pictures of Larry Bergeron's trip to Haiti can be found on KAH Cincinnati's facebook profile here.

Locals traveling to help in Haiti

Locals traveling to help in Haiti
Agencies send people, goods
By Mark Curnutte

Five weeks after an earthquake leveled Port-au-Prince and killed an estimated 230,000 people, old wounds and broken bones are still bandaged with T-shirts and malnutrition and infections are ever-growing problems.

Three international relief agencies based in Greater Cincinnati, including one with a permanent presence in Haiti, will deal with those problems in the coming weeks.

Matthew 25 Ministries, based in Blue Ash, will send a 14-person medical mission team, including four doctors and four nurses, to the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince for nine days.

A Child's Hope International, based in Liberty Township, will send six-people to unload 300,000 meals, infant formula and diapers for distribution.

One of that group's destinations will be the Restavek Foundation - a Kenwood-based organization that fights childhood slavery in Haiti - which has an office and schools throughout greater Port-au-Prince.

The groups will carry donations, support and the volunteer hours of tens of thousands of people in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.

"We are just a small part - you're talking about a large sea of humanity that is behind all of this," said Larry Bergeron, founder of a Child's Hope International, an affiliate of Kids Against Hunger.

More than 2,000 volunteers have packed 660,000 high-protein meals in boil-safe bags since Jan. 12 in a former Blue Ash grocery store, known as "the factory." The group has already shipped hundreds of thousands of meals.

Bergeron and four volunteers from Urbancrest Baptist Church in Lebanon will be in St. Marc, a city about 40 miles up Haiti's western seaboard from Port-au-Prince, to unload the shipment and truck it to a secured warehouse closer to the capital.

The goal, Bergeron said, is to avoid tariffs indiscriminately applied by the Haitian government to shipments coming into Port-au-Prince.

Besides the personnel, Urbancrest has raised almost $100,000 for Haitian relief since the earthquake. It contributed $40,000 to A Child's Hope International to buy rice and other ingredients, and the church sent 300 water-purification units to the impoverished nation.

"We see this as a long-term thing," said the Rev. Tom Pendergrass, Urbancrest senior pastor.

U Pull & Pay, an auto parts salvage yard in Carthage, bought a pickup truck in Florida for Bergeron's group, paid to ship it to Haiti and threw in several sets of tires and spare engine parts for it and other vehicles. Roads and streets in Haiti are deeply rutted and washed out, even in the best conditions.

"We certainly wanted to find something to do to help," said Mark Schaefer, U Pull & Pay president.

The Matthew 25 Ministries group left late last week and planned to begin visiting tent cities and orphanages over the weekend. It will be based out of a hotel about 45 minutes north of Port-au-Prince and will make day trips to treat "old wounds, broken bones that had been bandaged with T-shirts, infections, cases of malnutrition," said Dr. Eric Niemeyer, of Hyde Park Family Medicine and Christ Hospital.

Niemeyer, who has done relief work in Nicaragua, simply wanted to do some good where possible, he said.

Christ Hospital paid all expenses, including $3,500 in travel, lodging and food, for Niemeyer and fellow Christ physician Dr. James O'Dea.

"So many of the children in the orphanages have not had any care," Niemeyer said.

The group took exactly one ton of supplies, including splints, pain relievers, first-aid kits and surgical instruments.

The Restavek Foundation, founded by a former Haitian child slave, Jean-Robert Cadet, operates a feeding program for 5,000 people a day and is building semi-permanent classrooms for its more than 400 students.

Security walls are being rebuilt around its two-dozen schools to provide safe havens for children. Its Haiti office is in Petionville, a hillside suburb southeast of Port-au-Prince.

"We're working with our school directors to hire teachers and begin the process of resuming school," said Joan Conn of Indian Hill, the Restavek director, "so we can bring some normalcy back to children's lives."

The article can be found here.

Haiti earthquake response video

Thank you to Brad Feldman for creating this video!

Haiti Shipment update

Above is a picture of our first shipment bound for Haiti. Included in this shipment is 171,027 meals and 6 pallets of relief supplies (mostly water and diapers). Look at the photo carefully. You will see our ubiquitous yellow stickers on the pallets!

Our second shipment bound for Haiti left last Friday. This shipment of 228,096 meals and 8 pallets of relief supplies should arrive in Jacksonville, FL today and then will have a 5 day boat ride to Haiti.

We will have a 3rd shipment for Haiti leaving soon.

Food for Haiti

From Sunday, Jan 17 through Saturday, Jan 23, a total of 7 extra packing sessions were held at the "Factory" in Blue Ash. Nearly 2,000 volunteers rallied to meet the needs of the children of Haiti and packed 296,336 meals! Over $80,000 has been donated to meet the budget of $150,000 needed to supply 600,000 meals and to ship all of the donated baby formula and infant items. To help us reach the planned amount to ship all of the food and supplies to Haiti, please visit our Donation page. Thank you!!!

On Jan 17, we sent our first shipment of 1,728 meals to Haiti via air. As you can see in the picture below, the truck has arrived today to transport the rest of the food.

KAH food in Swaziland

Just got these photos from Swaziland, Tom Davis (Children's Hope Chest) is there now. Gotta love the writing on those boxes!

The KAH food is in Jumbo and Carike’s trailer which is driven to the care points. Mission Harvest reloads the food packets into barrels and then onto the ships. Barrels provide better protection for the food and can be used for other things once the food is gone. The stove is typical of the “kitchens” that you will find there.

Please visit Tom's blog here for a link to his pictures.

Haiti Relief News Coverage

In response to the crisis in Haiti, we are in the middle of a week of emergency packing sessions. For more details of the packing sessions and items that are in need, please visit: http://www.achildshopeintl.org/Haiti.html

We have received some local news coverage that we wanted to share as well. Some may not be too familiar with what we do and why we do it, so please share these brief news reports. Thank you!

"Tri-State Woman Has Special Connection To Haiti" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q1v1SYqfs8

"Volunteers Prepare Donations For Shipment To Haiti" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNppNteWLi0

Cartwheel-a-thon

We had to share this story from a great group of awesome young women in Lebanon that volunteered on Saturday Jan 9th:

Hello, my name is Peggy Hoffman. I am the gymnastics director and head coach at the Countryside YMCA in Lebanon Ohio. Kristy Meilstrup brought me the idea of having our girls go and help serve at Kids against Hunger. She also said it would be good to make a donation to the group. So I thought we would try a Cartwheel A Thon so the kids can raise the support. I gave them a letter about Kids Against Hunger and a form that they could use for their family and friends to pledge so much per cartwheel. It takes 500 cartwheels to make a mile. So each girl was trying to do 500 cartwheels a piece and they did! We had 12 girls doing cartwheels and had 2 more girls that helped raise money but could not do the cartwheels. They raised a total of $837.00! They did 6,000 cartwheels all together. We had a pizza party for them after they finished. They really enjoyed doing the cartwheel a thon and knowing they where helping to feed children. They had a great time packaging the food. I had them stand up in front of the other girls to tell about their experience and they all said they had fun and liked putting the food into the bags but the best thing was feeling they were able to make a difference in a child’s life. The story that they heard from the speaker really touched their hearts. They would like to come back and package food again. Thanks for doing this mission. You are touching so many lives not only the children you are feeding but also the people that get to come and help you fill your mission.

Thank you to everyone at the Countryside YMCA gymnastics team!!