The 10th Annual

Westerville Community Prayer Breakfast

is scheduled for Thursday, May 3rd, 2012

at the Westerville Community Center

(more details coming soon)

WARM is now a RECIPIENT OF Kroger Community Rewards Program!  Our  Organization number is 80750. 
Here’s how it works:
• Simply register online at krogercommunityrewards.com
• Be sure to have your Kroger Plus card handy and register your card with WARM as the organization after you sign up.
• If you do not yet have a Kroger Plus card, they are available at the customer service desk at any Kroger.
• Click on Sign In/Register
• If you are a new participant, click on SIGN UP TODAY in the ‘New Customer?’ box.
• Sign up for a Kroger Rewards Account by entering zip code, clicking on favorite store, entering your email address and creating a password, agreeing to the terms and conditions
• You will then get a message to check your email inbox and click on the link within the body of the email.
• Click on My Account and use your email address and password to proceed to the next step.
• Click on Edit Kroger Community Rewards information and input your Kroger Plus card number.
• Update or confirm your information.
• Enter organization from list and click on confirm.
• To verify you are enrolled correctly, you will see your organization’s name on the right side of your information page.
• REMEMBER, purchases will not count for your group until after your member(s) register their card(s).
• Do you use your phone number at the register?  Call 877-576-7587 to get your Kroger Plus card number.  Members must swipe their registered Kroger Plus card or use the phone number that is related to their registered Kroger Plus card when shopping for each purchase to count.  Enter 80750 (WARM’s number) or name of organization. Remember, when you shop for your family, you help feed others too.

This summer, WARM will operate the “Westerville Area Kids Lunch Club” as a USDA Summer Food Service Program, to serve free meals to children.  For summer 2011, we will operate at one site, Ridgewood Park, 5402 Buenos Aires, Westerville.

We will serve FREE, balanced and nutritious lunches, weekdays, to kids ages 1 to 18 from June 13 to August 12.  After lunch, all children are encouraged to stay for organized educational and recreational activities.  Lunch will be served at 11:45 AM and activities begin at12:30 PM, rain or shine.

Volunteers are needed to assist with the program!  Call Deb Wallace at WARM for information 899-0196 or click here for details on volunteering.

As they have for all nine years of the event, members of the Sunrise club served breakfast to the crowd of more than 300 at the event. The Rotary Club of Westerville Sunrise meets at 7 a.m. Wednesdays at the MCL cafeteria, 60 Westerville Square.

The Rotary Club of Westerville, which meets at noon Thursdays at the Villa Milano banquet hall, 1630 Schrock Road, has incorporated a food drive for WARM into the Westerville Independence Day parade it stages annually.

Both clubs also conduct food drives for WARM during the Thanksgiving season. “It is with great pleasure that we honor those who call themselves Westerville Rotarians,” Marier said. “Thanks you to each and every one of you who serve so faithfully.”

Frederic’s Hair Design in Westerville provided a little afternoon pampering to WARM clients on January 11th by offering free makeovers to residents in need in the Westerville area. 

Salon co-owner Katie White said th shop was using “our expertise to help people improve their images, feel hopeful and remain positive about themselves.”   Our clients were all smiles when they were finished after being pampered with services with included hair, manicures and make-up.

Thank you to Frederics’s Hair Design for stepping-up and making these people feel so special and cared for!

Parade Grand Marshall Scott Marier and wife Marcia took the front seat in our local Independence Day celebration and the WARM donations rolled in. Parade route collections that day represented more than 3.1 tons of grocery supplies.

This means nearly 6,500 meals for local families were generated during that one patriotic event.   All we can say is: “Wow! This community really knows how to throw a party!”

Reprinted courtesy of the Westerville News & Public Opinion/SNP, ©Copyright 2010
Originally published May 19, 2010
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      Helping unemployed Westerville school district residents find and keep jobs earned the Westerville Area Resource Ministry an Ohio Nonprofit Excellence Award from the Ohio Association of Nonprofit Organizations.

      WARM was chosen from more than 100 entries submitted for the award by nonprofit agencies across the state, and presented with the honor May 11 in an Ohio Statehouse ceremony.

      The OANO award recognizes “creativity, execution, achievement, and overall excellence of a specific project or program completed by an Ohio nonprofit the previous year.”

      WARM was recognized for Steps To Overcome Poverty, or the STOP program, a self-sufficiency program that helps unemployed Westerville City School District residents gain the confidence and skills needed to secure and retain full-time employment.

      Volunteer trainers and mentors work with WARM staff to teach resume writing, interviewing skills, job search planning, financial literacy, and job readiness.

      “Enrollment in our jobs placement program has increased dramatically due to the tough economy and high unemployment rates we’ve been facing,” said WARM Executive Director Scott Marier in a prepared statement.

      Unemployment in Westerville is consistent with that of Franklin County and Central Ohio. But these figures do not speak of the economic impact of unemployment on people’s lives, he said.

       “By increasing the employability of our clients, the STOP program alleviates poverty, improves self-esteem, and promotes all the benefits of being a contributing member of society,” Marier said.  “The whole community benefits as demand on public assistance is reduced and the number of people living in poverty decreases. … Improved levels of family stability and civic responsibility are also visible.”

      WARM funds the STOP program with general operating funds generated by program partners, grants, special events and individual, corporate, civic and church donations.