The Giving Fields Gives Produce
Just along the southern bank of the Ohio River sits the small rural town of Melbourne, Kentucky, spotted with rustic farms and quaint resting spots. The 2010 Census counted 401 people residing in its neighborhoods.
It is also the home of the Freestore Foodbank’s The Giving Fields, an expansive 10 acre community farm that provides fresh produce for Northern Kentucky food pantries, soup kitchens and other agencies. During 2016 growing season alone, some 2,400 volunteers helped plant, weed, harvest, and glean enough vegetables to supplement nearly 120,000 meals.
Dan is among those volunteers. Most days for the past six years he can be seen navigating the rows, fence lines and pretty much the entire length of the farm driving a lawn mower. As a neighbor, it is a job he enjoys doing in his retirement. “It is something simple that I can do to contribute to our community,” he said.
Interested in helping out? The Freestore Foodbank is always looking for new volunteers. For more information about volunteering at The Giving Fields or for questions about donating gardening items or supplies, please email our Volunteer Services Department at volunteer@freestorefoodbank.org or call (513) 482-7550.
Carol’s Work Inspired By Humanity
I have often said I am so fortunate that my work has introduced me to some pretty incredible people. Carol Stevie is among them. We came to know each other through my work on the Greater Cincinnati Planned Giving Council’s Voices of Giving Awards. A committee member, Carol had been my main point of contact 
for numerous years. Always appreciative, upbeat and welcoming, she was one of the reasons I looked forward to that project.
Carol was involved through her work with a Cincinnati nonprofit organization, Catholic Inner-City Schools Education (CISE), which supports the education of about 2000 urban students at eight Catholic elementary schools and several Catholic high schools. The CISE schools welcome all children, regardless of their religious backgrounds and economic circumstances. (Around 75% of the students at CISE are not Catholic, 83% are minorities and 93% are poor.) Carol worked there almost twenty years before her retirement, 8.5 years as its part-time associate director and 11 years as its first full-time director.
CISE was, and probably still is, her passion; although now, in her retirement she is enjoying spending quality time with her family – husband Richard, two adult daughters & spouses – Beth Walker (Tom), Laura Ash (Joe) and our four grandchildren Nathan, Evan, Ava and Eli. Retirement also gives me more time to pursue my love of travel and to plan our upcoming adventures. In the fall, she will be doing more volunteering.
Lisa: Tell me about some of what you are most proud of in life.
Carol: One of things of which I am most proud – in addition to my family – is having had the opportunity to work with CISE and have a positive influence on the lives of so many young people. The growth of community support of the CISE program over the past 20 years has been amazing. It was a privilege to work with the dedicated, hardworking CISE Board and staff, as well as with the principals, staff and faculties of the CISE schools. They are all so mission-driven and inspiring. In addition, I am in awe of the extremely generous donors who have done so much for the students at the CISE schools over the years because they feel committed to giving children the same opportunities that they have receive. Everyone involved with CISE shares the belief that education is the key to overcoming poverty.
Lisa: Where does that drive and passion come from?
Carol: My personal belief in the power of education was shaped by my mother. I grew up in East Price Hill and attended St. Lawrence School, now a CISE school. Neither of my parents had the opportunity to attend college and worked hard to provide for our family. My mother was insistent that my sister and I go to college because she wanted us to have more opportunities than she had. Mom went to work full time to pay for our tuition at Seton High School and to put us both through the University of Cincinnati. I am so grateful to her and have been inspired by her selflessness and by the great value she placed on education.
Lisa: Tell me a little about your philosophy on life.
Carol: I believe the reason that I was drawn to CISE is that we are all connected through our humanity. I love the following quote by Dr. Martin Luther King: “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be.”
Foster Parents To Adoptee Parents
It was over six years ago when Don and Cindy Reilly’s lives changed forever. Tears swelled in their eyes as the credits rolled to the movie, the Blind Side. And, the next thing they knew, they signed up for CPR and first aid classes and began talking about fostering.
Their first set of five kids were African American, two of them were babies. They stayed with the Reilly’s for about 3 ½ weeks, and were followed by two girls and a boy who were with them about 4 ½ months. The next set of kids were teenage brothers, one with cognitive disabilities, who lived with Don and Cindy for over nine months.
Through these relationships, the Reilly’s learned two things: opening your heart up to young vulnerable kids one of life’s most rewarding experiences. The other lesson – it is VERY difficult to say good bye to temporary foster children who you have grown to love.
“We took a deep breath, wrote a letter and met with a social worker to say we wanted to foster to adopt the next time around,” Don told me.
Their next call was about a ‘unique situation’. There were six children and three of them had already been placed. Cindy actually knew the foster parent. Don and Cindy agreed to take the other three girls.
Ariel (8), Marissa (9), and Katelyn (11) met their new parents to be at Ault Park, the site where Don and Cindy were married years back. Two meet and greets, and a weekend stay later, the girls were asked if they wanted to stay. And, 4 ½ years later, Ariel, Marissa, and Katelyn became Reilly girls.
It was about four months after the adoption was finalized that Cindy became pregnant and Adrianna brought the family to six.
Lisa: What have your daughters brought to your life?
Don: Many think they know how to love but they don’t. I was raised by single mom who had many bad things happen to her and so she never really knew how to love. She would pat you on the back and say I love you. I grew up thinking that was what love was. My daughters have taught me how to love, and that you can love someone unconditionally.
Lisa: What do you hope to impart on your daughters?
Don: Cindy’s and my goal is that we want our girls to be good people, grow up, do what they want to do in life, and be people who have their hands out for those who need help. That is how I lead my life. One of the reasons I have started my own business what so that it could be a place where people can come to work and have a boss who cares about them, encourages them, and brings jo to their life. I want my girls to live that way.
The first 20 years of my life were all about me but I look at that as a good thing, and that is how I overcame a lot of my insecurities. Until I met my wife, I always was a worker. I began working when 14 years old. I think I kept busy so I didn’t have to deal with my life. I thought I was different because I didn’t have dad. I always thought it’d be neat to have a dad. Then I met my mentor who talked to me about just looking forward. He drove me to stay focused not on my past but what I want from my life. I try to teach my kids that they too can keep going forward and not look back. You can get caught up too much looking at the past and it can hurt you.
Access Cincinnati Launches
Last summer, Kathleen Cail and Nestor Melnyk were awarded a grant by People’s Liberty from the Carol Ann & Ralph V. Haile Foundation to create Access Cincinnati, an online resource providing accessibility information on restaurants and bars to families with strollers, veterans, seniors and other individuals with mobility issues.
After many, many hours of research, they are launching AccessCincinnati.org, and are marking the occasion with a party TONIGHT at 6 pm at Taft’s Ale House (1429 Race Street; Cincinnati, Ohio 45202). The party will include free appetizers, information about the reviews and website, and a presentation of the first official Access Cincinnati window cling.
For Kathleen and Nestor this project is of personal significance as they are both parents who have children with developmental disabilities and aging parents. “We created the site to make it easier for anyone with children in strollers or with mobility issues to find an accessible venue, feel welcome and confident they can patronize a restaurant or bar without problems entering or being seated,” said Kathleen. “We hope the site encourages restaurants and bars to consider accessibility beyond ADA requirements because it’s not just the right thing to do, it’s good for business.”
Approximately 13% of Cincinnati residents are senior citizens and just over 12% of Hamilton County’s population has a disability. Cincinnati also hosts large conventions with Veterans, seniors and people with disabilities such as the National Veterans’ Wheelchair Games with 600 athletes visiting our city in July.
More than 65 citizens helped crowd source the information. Currently, there are approximately 150 reviews out of about 225 potential bars and restaurants, most in Downtown, OTR, and The Banks. To keep this information up-to-date, more crowd sourcing is needed. Cincinnatians are asked to visit www.accesscincinnati.org and sign up to receive their mobile survey to crowd source additional venues around the city, including other neighborhoods like Walnut Hills, Price Hill, Clifton, Avondale and Northside.
The Access Cincinnati mobile site provides information on Entrance, Space, and Restrooms. Restaurant and bar owners, that have been reviewed, will receive the Access Cincinnati window cling, providing potential customers passing by, with the information they need to decide whether a location meets their unique needs, before trying to enter.
“We want everyone to feel welcomed in our city and we want to provide information that can help individuals make their own decisions about where to spend their money and have a good time,” said Nestor.
90 Year Old Dancer Inspires
A note from my friend, Magno Relojo…
A 90 yr old lady who happens to love dancing and dressing up, inspires us with her enthusiasm for learning and memorizing her dance routines. At this age these can be difficult tasks to do but it is so amazing to see her mobility in dancing and in her everyday life. We love to tell her story and by chance it might inspire others to be positive about life.
She told me that when she dances it is just pure joy that she feels especially during competitions when there are lots of people watching…she seems to like that. I would too especially when you look good, feel good and are happy about life…you want to show everyone so they feel happy too.
By the way, this lady is my mother-in-law, Dr. Aurora Lira.
She wants everyone to Smile and be Happy
(Aurora and her professional partner are at the Millennium Dancesport Championships in Orlando, Florida – one of the largest events in the world) where they have already won some first places, a gold medal in a senior gold rhythm championship, and some money in a gold rhythm scholarship.)
If you follow my blog, you may remember my post about Aurora several years ago. You can read it here.
