Kathy Brechler, Food For The Hungry Executive Director and Carol Grubaugh, Executive Director for the Knox County Chamber of Commerce stopped by WNZR to talk about this year’s Service Club Challenge. Click HERE to hear the conversation or click the link below. Service Clubs throughout Knox County are hosting events and collections to benefit the annual drive. The deadline to submit donations is December 9th.
Kathy also talks about how the Mount Vernon annual Holiday Parade and Winter in Downtown MV event will be a collection point. Look for the FFTH Shopping Carts in the parade! Kathy shares a Top 10 list of foods that our local pantries have requested. She also shares a list of collection points that will be open on Friday, 12/13. Would you like to volunteer? Volunteers are needed at the collection points. Please email Kathy director@foodforthehungrycares.org
Lacey Filkins, Executive Director Experience Mount Vernon stopped by WNZR to give us a highlight of Winter in Downtown Mount Vernon. Click HERE to hear the full conversation or click on the link below.
Lacey talked about this year’s theme – A Vintage Holiday Celebration. She highlighted the exciting schedule: Saturday 11/30 – Shop Small Saturday Sunday 12/1: 3:45pm – Annual Holiday Parade 4:15pm – Festive Family Fun 5:00pm – Lighting of the Public Square 5:30pm – 7:00pm – Pictures with Santa at the Mount Vernon Grand Hotel
Lacey shared about the parade route and the best place to be seated. There are 60 different floats signed up for this year! There are 10 different awards including Best Overall, Judges Choice and Best Youth (sponsored by WNZR/MVNU). The parade is a Food For The Hungry collection point. FFTH will push carts in the parade so that people can donate while they walk through downtown. If there is rain, the parade is rescheduled for Sunday, December 8th at the same time and location.
Lacey talks about the Festive Family Fun. After the parade the public square will be filled with the Dogwood Blossoms singing carols. There will be ornament craft tables, letters to Santa, three different food trucks and a holiday market.
The lighting of the public square will take place when it gets dark. Santa and Mayor Star will be there. Santa is in the lower lobby of the Grand Hotel at 5:30-7:00pm. Pictures with Santa are free!
The event starts at 6:00pm on December 14th. They have four different categories. Best Storefront, Best Classic White Light Display, Best Vintage Inspired and Best Light Up the City Display.
The public is invited to vote as well as the assigned judges. The 14th, 15th and 16th are the voting dates.
The winners will be announced on the Experience Mount Vernon Facebook page on the 17th by 5pm. Winners will also be emailed directly.
Lacey wants to thank Park National Bank, Burrata Woodfired, Knox Community Hospital, Dumbaugh Insurance, Shelter Insurance, Ariel Corporation for their sponsorship. She would also like to thank the City Streets Department and MVPD for coordinating the parade. Lacey would like to thank their volunteers and for Santa.
Lacey would like to thank True Cut Landscaping and for volunteers for hanging the lights and ornaments in the square.
Lacey talks about future events that Experience Mount Vernon is planning for 2025. They are already planning their First Fridays. July First Friday will take place on a Thursday in 2025 to plan around July 4th weekend.
You can signup to the Experience Mount Vernon newsletter to keep up to date on all Experience Mount Vernon events. They also post updates on their website and Facebook page. https://www.experiencemv.org/
WNZR’s Marcy Rinehart talked with Scott Burgess from We Run MV about this year’s Turkey Trot. Click HERE to hear the full conversation.
The 14th Annual Turkey Trot is scheduled for Thanksgiving morning (11/28) on the campus of Mount Vernon Nazarene University. Registration starts at 8am. The race starts at 9am. Participants are asked to bring a food and/or monetary donation to benefit Food For The Hungry. Scott shares some amazing stats from the past 13 years:
Over 2,000 participants
7,600 food items collected
Over $14,000 collected
You can keep the legacy alive. Come be a part of the Turkey Trot this year!
WNZR talked with Jim Riggle, Principal of Academics, Attendance and Discipline at the Knox County Career Center.
Click HERE to hear the full conversation or click the link below.
They talked about some special fundraisers happening at KCCC to benefit Food For The Hungry. Tonight (11/21) at the Open House, there are special t-shirts sales and a dunk tank that will be raising donations. Lab competitions and the KCCC Online Themed Basket auction are coming after Thanksgiving. Jim also talks about how the FFTH slogan “Working Together to Care of our Neighbors” fits in nicely with the academic training for each lab.
Ted Buehrer is the Music Director and President of the Knox Community Jazz Orchestra. He shared some exciting news with WNZR. The group is hosting a concert to benefit Food For The Hungry. Click HERE to hear the full conversation or click the link below. Ted shared the details of this special event and invited the community to bring food and monetary donations. The concert is Friday, 11/22 at 7:30pm in Rosse Hall at Kenyon College. Ted also talked about the power of the FFTH slogan – “Working Together to Care for our Neighbors”. He shared how we are much stronger together than we are as individuals or an individual organization.
John Chidester, Director for the Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County shared with WNZR about their annual collection. Click HERE to hear the full conversation or click the link below. They have been supporting FFTH for decades! Food and monetary donations are being accepted through 12/13 at the libraries in Mount Vernon, Danville, Fredericktown and Gambier. This year, the library has an extra incentive for those that donate. Each time you give a donation, your name will be put into a drawing for a gift card!
Non-perishable items that are at or near their expiration dates, damaged, or in compromised containers will not be accepted. All collected food and money will be given to the 2024 Food For The Hungry Drive. Donations from each community will stay in that local community.
WNZR is honored to partner with the 43rd annual Food For The Hungry Drive. Today, The Morning Thing shared talked with Debbie Ruggles, President of Psi Iota Xi Sorority about this year’s elementary school collection. Psi Iota Xi has been involved with FFTH for 25 years!
Click HERE to hear the full conversation or click on the link below.
The collection is happening this week – 11/18 – 11/22 at all Knox County Elementary schools: Centerburg, Danville, East Knox, Fredericktown, Columbia, Dan Emmett, Pleasant Street, East, St. Vincent DePaul, Twin Oak and Wiggin Street. The Knox Learning Center and 6th Grade at Mount Vernon Middle School are also participating.
Debbie shared that there are rewards for the top collectors: – The Top Class in each school will receive a pizza party from Psi Iota Xi – The top donor from each school will be honored in the Food For The Hungry broadcast at the Knox County Memorial Building on Friday, Dec. 13. The students will be recognized on our live video stream at www.mvnu.tv, as well as on 100.9 FM and 93.7 HD2 – WMVO, with reports given on WNZR and 93.7 the Super Q.
A green flyer went home with the kids this past Friday sharing all the details. This flyer also included the Top 10 food items needed at our local pantries.
The Top 10 items needed for our local pantries include soup (pop-tops or packages), jelly, canned meals (ravioli, spaghettios, etc.), breakfast foods (cereal, oatmeal, pancake mix), canned fruit, canned vegetables, pasta/egg noodles, side dishes (boxed or packaged), peanut butter, and pasta sauce.
Though non-food donations are welcome, cash donations are encouraged because $1 donated is equivalent to $4.56 of buying power through the Mid-Ohio Collective. Checks should be made payable to Food For The Hungry. All donations collected in each school will stay in the community in which they were donated. These students are asked to demonstrate the idea that no one is too young to make a difference and that the community is better when we work together!
Follow FFTH on Facebook (@FoodForTheHungryKnoxCounty) and Instagram (@FFTHCares) to stay up to date on all things FFTH. Get involved by attending events, donating, volunteering, or even hosting your own event for FFTH! If you are hosting an event or collection, make sure to fill out the Community Event/Collection Form on the FFTH website.
To learn more about FFTH, donate, or find photos, videos, and more, visit www.FoodForTheHungryCares.org. To volunteer with FFTH, call or text Kathy Brechler at (740)-409-1866 or email Director@FoodForTheHungryCares.org.
The 2024 FFTH Live Broadcast will take place on Friday, Dec. 13 at the Memorial Theater inside the Knox Memorial. This is a Knox County tradition you won’t want to miss!
Food For The Hungry—Working together to care for our neighbors.
It is Food For The Hungry Kickoff Day! Today, we celebrate a legacy of giving that started in 1982. 2024 marks the 43rd Anniversary of this incredible campaign.
WNZR’s Marcy Rinehart talked with the new Food For The Hungry Executive Director, Kathy Brechler and Olivia Stern, Digital Content and Marketing Director. Click HERE to hear the full conversation.
The ladies covered many topics about this year’s drive:
2024 Drive Goal of $330,000
Why the goal has increased
The power of $1.00 at the Mid Ohio Food Collective ($1.00 – $4.56)
The Value of volunteers and how you can get involved
This is a local effort and donations stay right here in Knox County
Upcoming events to support the campaign
Summer Grant Program (15 local organizations received grants for a total of $29,500)
Top 10 needed food items
Healthy Donation Guide
How to stay connected
The ladies also shared powerful stories of how residents have been impacted by these donations. They also shared about their summer visits to several of our local pantries that benefit from FFTH.
Your generosity is astounding each year and we believe this will be another fantastic season of giving to support the FFTH mission of alleviating hunger in Knox County. We invite you to get involved! Donate, Volunteer, Host an Event/Collection, or Attend an Event!
On Friday, 12/8, a very large broadcast crew met and worked together to bring the 2023 Food For The Hungry Broadcast to the Knox County community.
We brought in equipment and expertise from several companies, over 25 college students from Mount Vernon Nazarene University, two MVNU professors and a lot of volunteers.
The Knox Memorial and Theater buzzed with excitement as we shared check presentations, total announcements from many events and collections, and handed out 21 Winter Grants to local food initiatives. It was an incredible day! Our current Food For The Hungry total is $263,502.08 and 11 truckloads of food! Click HERE to listen to the crew as they share their thoughts after a 7-hour broadcast raising funds and celebrating a giving community. The drive continues until 12/31 and you can still give at http://www.foodforthehungrycares.org Last year, the extra donations over the 2022 goal enabled Food For The Hungry to give out $25,000 in Summer Grants to help feed kids over the summer months. Every dollar counts! Thanks for helping us to live out the mission, “Working Together to Care for Our Neighbors”!
WNZR spoke with Interchurch Social Services Branch Managers as we build up toward drive day for Food For The Hungry. Interchurch Social Services is a grant recipient of the food and funds that are raised during the annual drive.
Sheryl O’Neil tells us all about her involvement with Interchurch Social Services in Centerburg and what the greatest needs are heading into the new year. Sheryl also gives us an idea on what she would like to see for the ministry heading into 2024.
Katie Frazier tells us about her involvement with Interchurch Social Services in Frederick Town and why she serves. She gives us a brief rundown of how the needs have grown this year and how people can help meet those needs.
Cindy Martin tells us about her involvement with Interchurch Social Services and how long she has been in the ministry. She gives us a rundown of the needs within her community and how they have grown and how people can help meet those needs. Cindy goes over her goals that she has for the ministry and what she would like to see heading into 2024. Listen in to hear how you can help and how you can pray for the needs within Knox County.
Listen to our full conversations with the Branch Managers below or by clicking HERE.
Rise and Shine 