100 Women chooses Simon Acts

Simon Acts, a non-profit serving the eastern part of Huron County, was chosen by 100 Women Making A Difference for $100 checks from each member at the end of the group's third year of donating to local charities. "It was surprising and very humbling and greatly appreciated," said Mark Chase, president of the non-denominational Christian organization. "We're a new organization that's just trying to help people out. When we find out there are other people with the same ambition of helping others, it's heartwarming. They trust us by giving us some of their blessings for us to share with others." He said Simon Acts serves people in the rural and small-town areas of Fitchville, New London, Greenwich, Hartland Center, Wakeman, Clarksfield, North Fairfield and Collins. It works with New London, South Central and Western Reserve school districts. Chase said the name for the group was chosen to reflect the service that Simon, a foreigner, gave to Jesus Christ when Simon stepped forward to help carry the cross as Jesus faltered. "Simon acted," Church said. "So we want to follow that example and act when we see need." Simon Acts now has six programs. One provides financial support such as rent and utilities and has helped 110 families over the past two years with $40,000 in support. Another program has provided Christmas gifts for 84 children in struggling families. Volunteers take the families shopping so families can choose the gifts and the volunteers can get to know the families. A third program provides food baskets at Easter for families in need. Chase said several groups offer food at Thanksgiving and Christmas so Simon Acts chose Easter and helped 64 families last Easter. The non-profit also provides nutritious snacks and easy meals over the summer break for families that the schools refer to them because the children might not be able to get proper meals since school is out. Chase said Simon Acts is supplying 75 families, with 211 children, with food this summer. Simon Acts also works with Second Harvest Food Bank to provide 35 senior citizens with New London and Greenwich zip codes with food baskets monthly. Simon Acts recently accepted the Luke Clemons Fund as their sixth program. That fund was established to help families when a member faces a lift-threatening illness, Chase said, but it was turned over so recently that they haven't set up guidelines for this program yet. Following the motto "Spreading God's love through service to our community," Simon Acts has operated since 2022 with funding from Norwalk Area United Fund, New London Rotary United Fund, Firelands Electric Peoples Fund, 21 st Century Foundation, Rooted in Christ Church of Collins, individual donors and company donors. Simon Acts has also been supported by Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio. Chase said the donations from 100 Women "will allow us to keep going." "What we really like to do is focus on younger people and elderly people," he said. The organization's website is www.simonacts.com. The other two non-profits nominated – Artists' Open Studio and Huron County Imagination Library - are familiar programs to 100 Women members. AOS, which provides opportunities for adult disabled artists, was awarded $16,800 in January 2023 and the local Imagination Library, part of Dolly Parton's international non-profit to promote reading for children from birth through age five, has been nominated four times. Lindsey Esker, executive director for AOS and a 100 Women member, said the previous award helped them expand programming for the approximately 50 artists that work through the studio. She told 100 Women members that the non-profit has a new challenge that will require funding - purchasing the building they currently rent. AOS moved to uptown Norwalk in 2020 from the former Christie Lane school and Christie Lane Industries property on South Norwalk Road and the non-profit immediately saw the benefits of greater visibility with an uptown location. "These are people who are not always seen and everybody ought to be seen," she said. The gallery space and retail side of the business allows the artists to make money from their pieces also. "We just had a spring show and Tim (Schnee) sold out all of his works on the first day," Esker said. "Our artists are now getting commissions for them to create more art pieces." Sales for AOS artists tripled the first year after the move. When the Norwalk Reflector closed its office next door to AOS recently, the non-profit decided to rent that space so they will occupy the first floor of the entire building. That will allow them to move the "messy, creative" side of their business for painting and ceramics to 34 E. Main and keep their gallery, retail and event space at 32 E. Main. The owner of the building told AOS he intents to sell the building within the next year, but he will give AOS the opportunity to buy thebuilding before putting it on the market. The 100 Women donations could have been used as a down payment, Esker said, but they are already working on ways to raise the funds to buy the building. AOS' website is www.artistsopenstudio.org. Judy Sommers, board member for Huron County Imagination Library and also a 100 Women member, spoke for the fourth time to the group. Imagination Library was nominated at the very first 100 Women meeting, she said, but she usually has longtime friend Rita Stark at her side when she speaks about the program. Stark was on vacation so missed this meeting.Sommers, a retired educator, was part of the initial group to bring Imagination Library to Huron County more than three years ago during a campaign by Ohio First Lady Fran DeWine to make the program available in all 88 Ohio counties. "A large group met – librarians, educators, school superintendents – right at the beginning of COVID," she said. The State of Ohio pays half of the cost for each county and Huron County Imagination Library raises the remaining cost through individual donations and the support of local service organizations and foundations. HCIL operates under the non-profit umbrella of Norwalk Area United Fund, but does not receive any funding from United Fund, Sommers explained. The group has now exceeded their original goal to get 50 percent of eligible children in Huron County enrolled in the program, which provides one high-quality, age-appropriate book per month to children from birth through age five. The annual cost for each child is $26. The program can provide the books at such a low cost because of the volume of booksdistributed throughout all 50 states and in other countries. "Kids are coming to kindergarten not prepared," Sommers said. "These books are designed specifically to help parents read to their babies. I hear from families what a great program this is and how much it helps." The local program now has 62 percent of eligible children enrolled, about 2,200 kids, and more than 1,000 children have graduated out of the program by turning five. Sommers said their new goal is to get 75 percent of Huron County children enrolled in the program. Their main advertising is bookmarks they distribute through birthing centers at Fisher-Titus andthe Bellevue Hospital, child care centers, food banks, Huron County Job & Family Services and the Huron County Fair. As for four nominations without getting the top number of votes, Sommers said she supports all of the organizations that have been awarded 100 Women funding. "All of them are worthwhile programs," she said after the meeting. "It's sometimes a choice between feeding people rather than having them read. If nothing else, every other time someone has made a donation to us" in addition to their $100 check to the winning organization. More information on Ohio's Imagination Library programs is available at www.ohioimaginationlibrary.org. Love Grows Love, the animal-assisted learning program that received 100 Women funding in April, told the members how they are spending the funds. Co-director Donna Hammann said they are presenting three women's wellness programs, 4-H team-building programs, FFA team-building programs and wellness programs for teachers with the funding. Their website is www.lovegrowslove.org. Patti Wilde, who founded 100 Women with Robin Bleile, thanked the members for supporting the group at the end of their third year. "You've made a big difference to a whole lot of non-profits," Wilde said, citing the $182,500 that has been given to 12 charities in the past three years. 100 Women has a website at www.100womenmakingadifference.org. The next 100 Women meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 9 at Norwalk High School Art Gallery.-