Fall 2012…
Amneh, a woman who attends our Family ESOL/Kids Club program, started making trays full of Middle Eastern desserts and handing them out during “International Coffee” time, when the adults break from their English classes.  She BEAMS with pride, purpose, and gratitude as everyone visibly enjoys her food!  She says “I love to bake!”

Amneh shares with us her dream:  she wants to open a bakery and sell her creations as a job for income for her family.  

 April 2013…

After attending English classes the whole school year, Amneh has made friends with many of the women who are farther ahead of her in their English classes and now they are a team (helping “translate” for her).

At the Family ESOL/Kids Club Program, I was finishing a tour upstairs during International Coffee and I saw Amneh, the Baker, and Kifaya, her friend, come down the hall carrying TRAYS of food! They offered us food – “You must try:   cheese one… spinach one….chicken one.”  They were wonderful! Kifaya said “Delicious!  She makes them all, she has a bakery!  All is fresh daily!”         

Amneh, started her business – she opened her bakery!
She calls it “Old Hilliard Bakery” Mediterranean Bakery and Grocery.
It is located at 3975 Main St. Hilliard OH.  (across and just north of Dairy Queen).
Phone:614-777-5937

Amneh’s American Dream has come true!  She’s done it!!!
Please join us by patronizing her new business!  

- Kim Emch, Executive Director,  Serving Our Neighbors (SON) Ministries

There is no more exciting time than Christmas and the New Year!

We at Serving Our Neighbors Ministries are so thankful for this past year and for
all of its blessings.

It has truly been an amazing year for us. During our Free Summer Lunch program this summer we were able to serve 12,274 meals (a new single summer record) and we reached 36,933 total meals served since the program was established!

From September 6^th until now Kids Club and ESOL has served 329 total people from over 30 different countries!

These are amazing numbers but they aren’t just statistics. Behind each number is a child, a parent, and a family. They may not have eaten, found a job, or stayed together if we hadn’t been able to help them.

We are blessed to be doing God’s work. We are extra blessed that we get to meet so many amazing people and families through it. As we reflect on these numbers, the people in our lives, and the past year we’ve had, it’s impossible not to feel joy and excitement for the year ahead.

We thank God for all that he has given us and we pray he continues to bless us with His work. Pray for us, our invaluable volunteers that make it all possible, and all the amazing people we have yet to meet and help. Pray for us tomorrow as we restart Kids Club and ESOL to kick off the New Year! May 2013 be as wonderful and exciting as 2012!  

Happy New Year!!

This November at Serving Our Neighbors (SON) Ministries, as we Give Thanks, we would also like to again remember those less fortunate in our community.  Of the 693,110 children in Ohio who struggle with hunger, 3,711 of these children are in Hilliard.  And we are asking for your help.

We invite YOU – to make dining out SPECIAL again for you and your family while serving a good cause.

Do you know that an average family of four in our community might spend over $400 monthly on DINING OUT (restaurants, carry out, etc.)?  Yet, families in our community are experiencing hunger daily?  1 in 4.5 children – 23.59% – in our community lives in poverty and may not know where their next meal is coming from.

This November we INVITE you to :

            Dine-In for SON Ministries

            Dine-In for Those in Need 

            Dine-In and Serve Your Neighbor

It works like this:  

- Estimate what your family spends on dining out in ONE month.
- Talk with your family!
- Share the FACTS = there are people who are in need in our community, at your
     children’s school.
   – Ask your family to commit to Dining Out one less time this month (2 times? 3 times?
Forgo eating out completely?) and donate (re-direct) that money to SON
Ministries to Partner in the ongoing, relationship building work we do with families in
need in OUR community:

• $50 provides 10 children 30 minutes of tutoring in our KIDS CLUB Program!  Education is the key to ending generational poverty and it is the goal of this program.
• $100 provides 34 healthy lunches for children in need in our Hilliard Free Summer Lunch CAMP. 

Or during this Season of Thanksgiving, would you consider a special gift to make a lasting difference for a child living in poverty?

• $180 pays for one child to attend our Hilliard Free Summer Lunch CAMP for the entire summer!  (Breakfast, lunch and four hours of Summer CAMP daily:  art, games and special guests!)

Then together as a family make the donation.

_____ To donate online using PayPal, use the donate button in the right column under “How can I help”.

_____ Mail a check:
Made payable to: SON Ministries
2300 Lytham Rd
Columbus, OH  43220
(Please note Dine-In on subject line)

_____ Consider, as a family, partnering with SON as an Agape Donor,
Together, committing to give monthly.

Then Dine IN and Feel Good…

Light the candles.
Use “the good” china.
Eat in the dining room.
Say an extra Special Blessing…

This November, Dine In and Give Thanks …knowing that together with SON Ministries YOU are making a difference right here in OUR community.

• To hear what the children in our Summer Lunch program had to say about what it feels like to be hungry click here.
•  Learn more about how SON Ministries helps children and families in need on our website, go to the Home page and click on “Programs”.

[We also INVITE your family to share your “Dine In” for SON Ministries “FEEL GOOD” stories on our Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/sonministries.  (Only once you’ve left the table of course!!]

On August 10, 2012, the last day of the Summer Lunch Program at Resurrection Evangelical Lutheran Church, Hilliard, OH, the Director of one of our sites was approached by a mother with two sons in the program, asking for the opportunity to “say thank you to all the people who put on this program”.  The following is the text of her speech, given before the children, SON staff, and church staff

 “I am (a mother of two sons in the Summer Lunch Program) and I am a graduate student doing my Masters in Physics Education.  I came to the United States in 2010 and as a stranger I struggled a lot, especially in the aspect of money. So I had to study and support my family and also to take care of my two old parents.  So I had to take my kids to a daycare at the first year I came here to have some time to study to go to school and to do my activities.  And after I took them, that summer, 2011, I had to drop my course because I didn’t afford the money I had to give to the daycare and I promised myself I would never take them to a daycare during the summer.   And fortunately one day I went to their school, JW Reason, and there were some people there from this program who were offering us free lunch program campers to take our kids during the summer with only 70 bucks (for two).  It’s amazing I couldn’t imagine myself giving only 70 bucks to such a great program.  And they treated my kids as their family and they gave everything they could:  they gave them morals,  they gave them HAPPINESS actually, because every day when they came back to home they were eager to go to the next  day – to see all the activities,  to see all the people that they were taking care of them and  giving them all the morals they could ever take.   So it’s a big thank you from me, as a mother, from my parents as grandparents, from my kids, to this awesome program.   Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

This mother later went on to say that as of this summer,  while her sons attended Summer Lunch, she completed the coursework she needed and has now earned her Masters in Physics Education.   She is  now a PhD Candidate in Material Science and Engineering at The Ohio State University.  

It was extremely exciting to see so many familiar and new faces to start the year!! There were 153 adults that came to register for our ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) classes. 75 of them are returning adults. We had 78 new adults register!!

We had an estimated total of 55 children attend
Kids Club! It was a wild and crazy first night. Although it was tiring, these kids were truly inspiring!

The nursery was a busy place to be with around 42 children to look after! It’s exciting to have so many toddlers and babies. Especially with the hope that we will see them in our other programs as they get older!

Although it’s exciting to have these high numbers don’t stop praying for us! We hope that people will come regularly and that we will always have enough volunteers and resources to meet their needs! If you’re interested in volunteering contact either Allison Gesner Rooney arooney@son-ministries.org  or Theresa Liszkay at tliszkay@son-ministries.org for more information.

If you want to see more pictures from ESOL or KID’s Club check out our Facebook page for regular updates: http://www.facebook.com/sonministries.  

KID’s Club runs through the school year (September 6, 2012 through the end of
May 2013). Hope to see you there!!

We have two new members of our camp staff: Olive and PeaceMaker!  Olive and PeaceMaker are super heroes and the new mascots of the Hilliard Free Lunch Summer Camp.  They are teaching the children how to serve God every day and to give Him the glory.  The mascots make a “LIVE special appearance” weekly to each Hilliard site.  They also show up via video weekly and tell the children stories of how they helped someone in Jesus’ name.  The children are assigned by age group with Camp Counselors. Many of the children have used the super hero theme in choosing their Camp Team names, such as “the super team”,” the avengers”.  Other teams have taken a different approach, such as the “dominators”, “the green strikers” and the “wild cats”.  Some favorites, however, are “the locos tacos”, “the blue monkey flowers”, and “the vampire sharks”!  Whether or not Olive and Peacemaker inspired the team names, they all stand for truth, justice, and God’s way!

 SON Ministries has reestablished our “Parent Advisory Group” made up of parents who have children in either the Hilliard Summer Lunch program or Kid’s Club. Our goal is to build leadership and community among parents while getting important feedback to improve our ministry offerings. This is an open group and everyone is invited to join. We will meet throughout the year – between now and May, meetings will take place during the ESOL program at UALC The Church at Mill Run. Watch upcoming newsletters for further details about meeting times.

 “This is so cool!”  -  A 10 year-old receiving a coat.

This winter, SON Ministries provided 376 new coats to children in need.  Hundreds of generous UALC members donated $10 each, totally over $7,000 which was used to purchase the children’s coats.
For only $2 a coat, children received the much needed warmth and comfort to get through the chilly winter.  SON Ministries was blessed this month to receive 118 fleece hats, made and donated by two local Girl Scout troops # 124 and # 1991.  In addition, a SON Ministries volunteer graciously made and donated a whopping 400 scarves she knitted herself!   With the help of UALC every single coat was distributed to children in need.  SON Ministries began distributing coats in 2008.  Since then 900 coats have been distributed throughout the community.

Imagine sitting at the HUGE table and breaking bread with 170 individuals and families representing 26 different countries for a Thanksgiving “Pot Luck” Dinner…one was held for the ESOL and Kid’s Club participants, families, staff, English instructors, tutors, and volunteers on November 22^nd. What an amazing experience!!! God has blessed us with wonderful neighbors who brought a variety of native dishes for all to share.  Fun, food, conversation, and laughter…The true sense of “family.”  Families said “Can we do this again!  It’s so fun and everything is so delicious!” We are praising God for allowing us to share in the lives of these amazing children and their families and for teaching us how to love them!