Big beautiful bouquets to The Girls of Green and Dairy Queen of Green who are partnering to host “A Charity Fund-day at DQ,” 1840 Town Park Blvd., Uniontown, all day Wednesday.
A portion of the sales will go to the family of Blake Arnold, who is battling cancer.
Nine-month-old Blake, son of Natalie and Carl Arnold of Canal Fulton, was diagnosed with a malignant extrarenal rhabdoid tumor. This very rare and aggressive cancer, with only 15 new cases reported annually in the U.S., is now in the baby’s spine and the fluid surrounding the brain. Blake is being treated at Akron Children’s Hospital.
In order for the family to receive proper credit, customers need to present a flier at time of purchase. Fliers can be obtained from Valerie Schwartz at vtschwartz@gmail.com or in the office at Green High School, or print out a copy attached to this column on www.Ohio.com.
School bus for Haiti
Fred and Sandy Muffet, ministry managers of Chapel Community Service (CCS) and the Barberton-based Mission USA Inc., are seeking financial help to ship a school bus to Haiti. It’s part of the relief efforts to help the poor island country, still trying to recover from 2008 storms and earthquakes, and pummeled again last week by Hurricane Sandy.
“We are a 501(c)(3) public charity that responds to many disasters in the United States and major disasters anywhere,” the Muffets wrote.
“When not responding to disasters, we work with local ministries and nonprofits in community development. We have a mobile kitchen, a Bobcat for debris removal, a disaster tent, and a tool trailer that we deploy. Our volunteer base consists of over 1,000 volunteers who have donated over 10,000 hours in our local communities in the past year.”
Mission USA Inc. is involved with First Glance, a teen ministry in Kenmore, assisting with the remodeling of its skate park. “In the past two years we have remodeled five houses in the Kenmore area which are being lived in by leaders of First Glance who want to live where they’re ministering,” the Muffets noted. “We also have helped South Street Ministries, Pregnancy Center of Stark County, Urban Vision and The Garage [a teen ministry in Wadsworth] with construction projects … We regularly take our mobile kitchen to Haven of Rest, OPEN M [Opportunity for People Everywhere in Need Ministry], and the Indian River Juvenile Correctional Facility. And, of course, we still do disaster relief and rebuilding mission trips to disaster areas.”
“On Feb. 9, we will make our third trip to Haiti serving after the earthquake,” the Muffets continued. “There will be 26 members on this team, which will include medical, construction, disability and spiritual development leaders. We are shipping a school bus full of needed materials and supplies to Gran Guave, Haiti, early in December.”
They bought the bus on eBay and drove it back here from Lawrence, Kansas.
“We have temporarily removed some of the seats in the back of the bus,” the Muffets said. “We are putting a 20 KW generator, a six-burner commercial stove, and much-needed transmission for another vehicle as well as about 15 wheelchairs, walkers and crutches.” The Muffets need help with the steep cost of shipping it: $3,000 and another $3,000 for duties in Haiti.
Checks should be made out to: Mission USA Inc., 544 Taft Ave., Barberton, Ohio 44203. A tax-deductible receipt will be issued.
Daily Jewel to debut
I haven’t been the fashion writer in a couple of decades.
Yet I can’t resist talking about Akron-born-and-bred Sylvette Long, who has designed for New York fashion houses (Tahari and others), clothing companies (including The Gap) and Calvin Klein (his jeanswear line). On Sunday she is debuting her own custom line of knitwear accessories in her hometown, 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday with a 2:45 p.m. presentation at the Ed Davis Community Center, 730 Perkins Park Dr., Akron.
The line is called The Daily Jewel as each piece — hats, scarves, etc.— features a jewel somewhere in the yarn. “People aren’t spending much money on clothes anymore but are using accessories to express their fashion sense,” said Sylvette, who embarked on this venture “in the twilight of my career.”
“So this is a way of letting you do your own specialized pieces created by you … It’s sort of a Tupperware concept in that you can choose a piece, choose a color and the type of jewelry you want. You may have to wait two or three weeks to get it because it will be one of a kind.”
Now the rest of the story on the woman whose career I chronicled early on but never met face to face.
Sylvette is a graduate of Buchtel High School, attended Ohio State University and graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology. She got interested in fashion as a child, at the knees of her mother, Pauline Long, who worked decades as a tailor for Richman Bros. Her late father, George W. Long Jr., who headed Long Construction Co., used to go house-to-house selling suits in the early years.
Sylvette is one of nine children.
Celebrating philanthropy
Hats off to the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) North Central Ohio chapter which is celebrating 20 years of community service and support Friday, during National Philanthropy Day at the Hilton Akron/Fairlawn.
Awards will be presented to:
• Sugar Bush Golf Club — Small Business Leadership award, nominated by Hattie Larlham.
• Aultman Hospital in Canton — Corporate Leadership award, nominated by Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank.
• The Dominion Foundation — Foundation Leadership award, nominated by the Akron Zoo and University Park Alliance.
• Tom and Ginny Knoll and Tom and Sue Strauss — Outstanding Fundraiser awards, nominated by Habitat for Humanity of Summit County.
• Joseph and Joanne LaRose — Outstanding Philanthropist award, nominated by Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens.
• Girl Scout Troop 60165 — Children in Philanthropy award, nominated by the Girl Scouts of North East Ohio.
• Steve & Jeannine Marks/Akron Marathon — Special Recognition, nominated by CommonGood Consulting.
“National Philanthropy Day gives the nonprofit community the opportunity to express appreciation for the many accomplishments that have been made in the name of giving, and to demonstrate that there is still more to do,” said Laura Hnat, chair of the nominations committee. “It is our chance to step into the spotlight for a brief moment and remind our communities, our society, and the world that spirit of giving is alive and well.”
Pillowcases for kids
Kudos to Connie Pacanovsky who used the colorful, kid-friendly fabric another reader (Mary Ellen Atwood) was anxious to donate for a good-deed effort.
Pacanovsky fashioned the material into 15 pillowcases for patients at Akron Children’s Hospital.
“Had some that were ‘boyish’ and some that were ‘girlish,’ ” she wrote. “Sure was fun working my sewing machine again.”
Shoe box project
Ravenna volunteers with Operation Christmas Child — the world’s largest Christmas project of its kind, filling shoe boxes with toys, school supplies and hygiene items for needy children overseas — are operating at full speed.
Packed shoe boxes can be dropped off the week of Nov. 12-19 at First Church of God, 237 New Milford Road, Ravenna. Call 800-353-5949 for the hours; and Baptist Bible Church of Paris, 6719 state Route 225, Ravenna. Call 800-353-5949 for the hours.
OCC, part of Samaritan’s Purse, has collected more than 94 million shoe box gifts since 1993 and hand-delivered them to suffering children in more than 130 countries.
Jewell Cardwell can be reached at 330-996-3567 or jcardwell@thebeaconjournal.com.