Loveland Magazine

Lotsa Helping Hands - How It Works

What problems does Lotsa Helping Hands address?

Most of us have experienced the crisis of a friend or loved one suddenly unable to function as they had for their family or themselves. Perhaps it's a debilitating illness, or post-surgery rehabilitation necessitating weeks or months of bed rest.  Maybe it's a complicated pregnancy or a cancer diagnosis requiring frequent chemotherapy appointments. In many instances of acute family crisis, the stricken must also cope with quickly finding support for meal preparation, grocery shopping, and transportation for themselves and their dependent family members.

Isn't there already an easy way to coordinate volunteers?

No. Even when there are plenty of friends and community members offering help, the effort often falls short. Until now, the coordination of these volunteers from various circles has been too cumbersome to attempt, or the good intentions result in frustration and inefficiencies—missed appointments, too much food delivered, and endless phone tag.

What does Lotsa Helping Hands provide?

Once the Coordinator creates a free, private Lotsa Helping Hands web site and adds members to it, members are automatically notified of available volunteer opportunities. Through an intuitive interface that requires no training, volunteers can sign up for any number of events, view their current commitments, and be sent email reminders of upcoming obligations. Lotsa Helping Hands provides summary views of commitments as well as unassigned events, eliminating redundant assistance, missed commitments, and excessive administrative labor.

"Every day, it was just phenomenal. I'd be really tired, and I would go to the door and there would be a hot meal… I felt so isolated, and this showed me I shouldn't feel that way. It's incredible how big the community is, and how everybody wants to help." —Rebecca G., breast cancer patient

Link: Lotsa Helping Hands - How It Works.

CINCINNATI, OHIO – Move from Loveland: “Blessing in Disguise”

CINCINNATI, OHIO - The OKI Chapter of the Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) held their "Walk-n-Roll to Cure SMA" at Nisbet Park in Loveland for two years.   After two successful "Walks" in Loveland, the group felt the need to move to a location which offered the option of moving indoors in the event of inclement weather.  This was an important consideration due to the vulnerable health situation of SMA children who cannot be exposed to rain and cold.

Therefore, in 2005, the "Walk-n-Roll to Cure SMA" moved to the campus of Xavier University with the option of using the concourse of the Cintas Center in the event of rain and cold.   Well, this year the weather tested the group on Saturday, April 14, and the Families of SMA responded by moving the "Walk" with its many activities inside the Cintas Center Concourse. 

The situation proved to be a blessing in disguise.   After two wonderful events at Nisbet Park and the Loveland Bike Trail, the first year on the Xavier Campus seemed to be a "let-down of sorts" in that the atmosphere did not duplicate that of Nisbet Park.   But, this year, moving the event indoors, working together against the elements, and offering lots of activities captured the camaraderie and spirit we had in Loveland.

The April 14 "Walk-n-Roll to Cure SMA" raised close to $90,000, all of which goes to research to find a cure or treatment.  SMA is the #1 genetic killer of children under the age of two.  Children who survive infancy live with only 10 to 20% of the muscle strength of typical children.   They cannot walk, crawl, sit without total support, control their trunk and neck, and some cannot swallow or breathe without a ventilator.   There is currently no cure for SMA, and the Families of SMA is conducting research to find a cure or treatment -- which research is funded by the "Walks" held by FSMA Chapters across the country.

More Photos.

LOVELAND, OHIO - 9th Annual Quilt Show Open House

Saturday, May 5
Loveland Library
Participants are invited to bring their families and friends for an afternoon of refreshments & socializing. Music by Wild Carrot.
2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

The Dog

by Sgt. Roy Batty

08 January 2007

So, it is a new year, and once again I am disappointed that we are not all zipping around the skies in shiny silver jet packs. You would have thought we would have been there in the impossible Year of Our Lord 2007, along with bustling Martian moonbases and cute little round alien critters straight out of a Robert A. Heinlein book.  But no, here we are in freakin' Baghdad, watching Mesopotamian hillbillies waste each other with assembly line machineguns designed in 1947, and trying to relearn hard won lessons from a bitter little war 40 years behind us.  It's all a bit depressing.

I could deal with all that, though, if it wasn't for all the mud. We enjoyed a week's respite while the clouds held back their torrents, and a weak and impotent sun  slowly transmogrified the mud back into it's usual tan-grey talcum powder.  Now it's back with a vengeance, like some monster jello from a particularly cheap 1950's sci-fi horror flick.  "Revenge of the Chocolate Mousse."  "Bride of the Mocha Blancmange."  And my personal favorite--"It Came From The Porta-potty." 

Rumor has it that 1st Platoon lost a soldier last week to it. One moment he was walking to the latrines, and the next second he was gone.  All they found was his boonie hat lying on top of a particularly innocent looking mud hole, with a few air bubbles wetly plopping around it.  No one's seen him since.

Mud victims or no, life goes on pretty much as normal, if such a word as 'normal' can be used on whatever twisted planet Baghdad rests upon.  Mid-way through our deployment, and we have all gotten used to the routine.  Admittedly, said routine is pretty easy here at FOB Shield.  Too easy, if you ask me.  We go out for a few hours every couple of days, and then spend the rest of the time either playing Xbox or languishing in the Motorpool of Lost Souls, trying to make torque wrenches out of commo wire and the remnants of ammo crates, since the mechanics (a.) flatly refuse to actually work, and (b.) won't give us any of their tools.  The other day I managed to take apart a steering gear box and change the MWO with my Leatherman and a P-38 can opener.

Today we have a new mission, and sort of an interesting one. We are going to a IP station on the fringes of Sadr City. Previously, it was left out of the whole training and assessment thing we have been pretending to do with the other stations in town, since we were pretty darn certain that the entire staff was Mehdi Army.  Someone higher up has decided that we will single-handedly convince them to turn their backs on their sectarian buddies and embrace the cause of democracy through the combined tactics of giving them the occasional case of drinking water and maybe a bullet or two.  Giddy with the success of winning previous counter-insurgency wars by handing out free shit, as in our glorious triumph in Vietnam, we are going to have a go with these guys.

Clermont County, Ohio – Free Junior Police Academy Summer Camps

Clermont County, Ohio - Teenagers across Clermont County, interested in a possible career as a CSI or police officer, will get a unique opportunity this summer for free hands-on training in a multitude of law enforcement fields.  The fourth annual Clermont County Junior Police Academy (JPA) will be held at four different locations: Goshen Middle School (June 11-15), Batavia Middle School (June 18-22), Bethel Middle School (June 25-29), and Glen Este High School (July 9-13).

“By offering the free week-long camps at locations across the county it will allow kids, between the ages of 13 and 17, to find a location close to their home to attend,” said organizer James Taylor, a Goshen Township police officer.  Taylor brought the Junior Police Academy concept to this area where it has met with great success.  ”This year we can handle up to 30 kids in each class.”

Goshen Township, Ohio - Smith Road Closed Longer

Goshen Township, Ohio - The Clermont County Engineer’s Office said that due to inclement weather, they are extending the closure of Smith Road in Goshen Township from Friday, April 27 until Friday, May 4, 2007.

The roadway is currently closed for a bridge replacement.

Goshen Township, Ohio – Gibson Road to Close

Goshen Township, Ohio – The Clermont County Engineer’s Office will close Gibson Road at the bridge over O’Bannon Creek on Monday, May 14, 2007 for a bridge replacement.  The Goshen Township project is expected to be completed and the roadway re-opened to traffic on Friday, July 27, 2007.

Traffic detours will be posted along SR48, Goshen Road, and SR28.

Are Rove's missing e-mails the smoking guns of the stolen 2004 election?

Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman

"Warren County declared a "Homeland Security" alert, removed the ballot count from public scrutiny, then recorded a huge, unlikely margin for Bush."

"E-mails being sought from Karl Rove's computers, and recent revelations about critical electronic conflicts of interest, may be the smoking guns of Ohio's stolen 2004 election. A thorough recount of ballots and electronic files. preserved by a federal lawsuit, could tell the tale."

"These and many more instances of irregularities and theft were reported at www.freepress.org and then confirmed by U.S. Representative John Conyers and others who researched the election."

"But the most critical reversals may have come as exit polls indicated that despite massive Democratic disenfranchisement, and even with preliminary vote count manipulations, Kerry would win Ohio by 4.2%, a margin well in excess of 200,000 votes."

"The key to that reversal may be electronic. It has now become widely known that the same web-hosting firm that served a range of GOP websites, including the one for the Republican National Committee, also hosted the official site that Blackwell used to report the Ohio vote count."

"This astonishing conflict of interest has been reported at the epluribusmedia.org on-line investigative service. Cross-postings have come from luaptifer at Dailykos and blogger Joseph Cannon's Cannonfire.blogspot.com. They all confirm that the RNC tech network's hosting firm is SMARTech.com, based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. SMARTech hosts georgew.bush.com, mc.org and gop.com among other Republican web domains, in a bank basement."

Read the full column by clicking below.

Are Rove's missing e-mails the smoking guns of the stolen 2004 election?.

Columbus, Ohio – Benefit Bank Expands

Gund Contribution of $150,000 will Enhance Community Discussion, Organization of Statewide Program

Columbus, Ohio – Governor Ted Strickland, together with The George Gund Foundation and the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks, today launched an effort to enhance and expand the Ohio Benefit Bank, a web-enabled, counselor-assisted program that helps low- and moderate-income Ohioans identify available benefits while filing their taxes.

A $150,000 grant from The George Gund Foundation will help the Ohio Benefit Bank expand its mission of allowing low- and moderate-income Ohioans to electronically file their income taxes while gaining access to credits and benefits such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, food stamps, child care subsidies, home energy assistance and children’s health insurance at the same time.

GRAVEL REFUSES TO GROVEL / WINS FIRST DEBATE

Allen L Roland

Just as I was beginning to nod off during the first Democratic debate ~ lulled to sleep by careful, posturing, groveling candidates beholden to AIPAC and the Military/Industrial complex ~ Mike Gravel woke me up with his wit, authenticity and seeming ability to sense what Americans really wanted to hear ~ the truth and righteous anger over a badly managed war, occupation and economy.

Link: GRAVEL REFUSES TO GROVEL / WINS FIRST DEBATE.