Wednesday, November 28, 2018
WARREN
Allison Smith’s emotional story of how a blanket made by Girl Scouts helped her cope with missing her mother won her $1,620 to make blankets for other lost little girls.
“My blanket kept me warm,” she said.
Smith’s Fleece Time organization was one of four that vied for mini-grants at the inaugural Valley Soup event Tuesday at Christ Episcopal Church.
Sponsored by the Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley, participants paid a $5 entry fee for soup, salad and bread and gave them one vote in determining the winner.
Smith, who teaches life skills to autistic children at Shepherd of All God’s Children in Warren, won $620 paid at the door and a surprise $1,000 donated by the Community Foundation.
She gives the blankets to women’s shelters and children in foster care. The money she won will help purchase materials for the blankets.
The presenters each had 4 minutes to make a case for their project. Audience participants had 2 minutes to ask questions.
The other three projects presented, each of which received $250, were ABC Diamond Girls’ GIRLS L.E.A.D. (Learn, Explore, Attempt, Demonstrate), presented by Trina Benson of Mineral Ridge; Lit Youngstown, presented by Karen Schubert of Youngstown; and YSUscape, presented by Daniel Bancroft of Boardman, president of the group, and Robert Zwicker of Canfield, its marketing coordinator.
Diamond Girls, founded 10 years ago and named after Benson’s niece, provides programming aimed at building self-esteem and leadership skills in girls. It meets from noon to 2 p.m. on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month at Heart Reach Neighborhood Ministries in Youngstown. The money will be used to buy laptop computers.
Lit Youngstown hosts a monthly reading series, book discussions and a writers circle at which writers can share new work and get help or feedback, said Schubert, its director.
At Tuesday’s event, Schubert was seeking funding for teaching artists, a childcare provider, ingredients for a baked-potato bar for lunch and other materials for its Winter Writing Camp on Feb. 16.
The YSUscape project, Pocket Park Full of Sunshine, plans to establish parking-space-size green areas in downtown Youngstown that might feature artwork and benches for people to socialize or just sit down and relax and rest, the presenters said.
Carmella Williams, director of diversity and inclusion for the Youngstown Business Incubator, and mistress of ceremonies for Valley Soup, said the event was a micro-funding dinner inspired by both the original Detroit Soup and the former Warren Soup and Youngstown Soup events.
Its purpose is to reach out to the community to move projects along. It’s a concept that has been proven successful in other areas, Williams said.
“I’m very pleased with the community involvement and its commitment to giving back at an event like this,” said Shari Harrell, CFMV president.