Columbus Foundation Fellowship Programs

The Columbus Foundation Fellows attended a learning session about Aunt Flow, a sustainable social enterprise whose mission is to ensure “all people have access to menstrual products.” The cool thing about Aunt Flow products is they are all 100% cotton without chemicals and additives that other companies use. They also utilize the buy one, give one model. If anyone isn’t familiar with the buy one give one model, you can think about Tom’s shoes. Every pair of Tom’s that is purchased, another pair is given to a child who is in need of shoes. For Aunt Flow, through subscriptions for every box that is purchased, another box is given to a beneficiary organization; for the business to business side, for every 100 count of essential products that are purchased, a package of 50 products is given to a beneficiary organization.

During the learning sessions, Claire Coder, the Founder, and Chief Estrogen Officer spoke to us about her business model and her journey over the past 18 months to arrive where they are today. It all started on a Friday night during a Startup Weekend in Columbus. She got her period and what is more inconvenient than being surrounded by men who don’t have tampons knowing you won’t have another opportunity until night time to run to the store? This was her predicament. Fortunately for Claire, that predicament has an easy solution, but as noted on auntflow.org, “this isn’t the case for 26.4 million menstruators in the United States who can’t afford essential menstrual products.” Claire really inspired me and am more encouraged to learn more about the various ways to run a business. I have plenty of business ideas, particularly a vegan bakery and a college prep and life skills program for high school students.

The Problem

From our discussion with Claire, I learned I have to find the key problem that my business would solve. She was inspired to learn about her problem after a personal experience. Claire learned tampons and pads are not covered by WIC or food stamps because they have an added luxury items tax in most of the United States. This poses a problem for many because means making a choice between buying food or menstruation products.  For me, I was inspired to bake vegan and vegetarian goodies after my parents went vegan during college. They basically stopped eating sweets because they couldn’t find vegan alternatives and that did not settle well with me. I am a firm believer in everyone being able to eat a delicious treat without feeling guilty or worrying about dietary restrictions. Unfortunately, this is a common issue as more and more Americans are becoming vegan and vegetarian!

I started thinking about a college prep and life skills program at the beginning of this summer after planning a summer accounting program for high school students. I also just graduated from college last summer and as I reflected on the past four years and my first year of grad school while “adulting”, I realized how much high school did not prepare me for college and adulthood. There have been so many reports from the media about students lacking basic financial literacy skills, surviving college, mental health in college, etc. I opened my first debit and credit card accounts independently from my parents this year and was at a loss for answers to some of the questions because I  didn’t have basic financial literacy skills. Since then I have been learning and attending workshops on budgeting, credit cards, debt, etc. More importantly, no high school graduate should lack money skills until they are 23 years old and independent for the first time in their life. Experiences and burdens like these are what drive me to create programs for students where they can better be prepared for adulthood and survival in college.

I hope to one day be as great of a business woman as Claire. She has done excellent work with Aunt Flow and continues to impact menstruators all over the country. She has gone through some tough times and learned some tough lessons, but she is doing really well. I encourage everyone to educate themselves on this pressing issue and support organizations who are working to improve whichever issues are close to your heart!

Flow Forward and have a great day!

Good Afternoon friends! I hope yall are having a great week and enjoyed some great food during Restaurant Week two weeks ago. This was my second restaurant week and once again, I was far from disappointed. You might be wondering what is restaurant week? This is a week when restaurants around Columbus pick two or three appetizers, entrees, and desserts from their regular menu and put them on a restaurant week menu. The menus are organized by courses so you can have a three course meal for $15 to $35 in increments of five dollars. Restaurants are organized by price on the eat614 website. For someone like me who loves trying new food ALL THE TIME, restaurant week is such a blessing!

Aab India – Grandview $15, 3 Courses

Aab is one of my all time favorite places in Columbus for a few reasons. There are endless options on the menu, so you can always try something new or stick with tradition. My traditional meal is Chicken Tikka Masala with Naan bread and Rice Pudding. If I really want to add a sweet drink I’ll get a Mango Lassi, but on that particular night I was not in the mood for that. During restaurant week I felt adventurous so I got Vegetable Pakora, Naan, Lamb Curry, and Rice Pudding. With a meal like that you need to have a great drink so wine it was.

El Vaquero Mexican Restaurant $15, 3-

Hello, authentic Mexican food! El Vaquero is my new favorite Mexican restaurant in Columbus. Being from Texas, I must have fantastic enchiladas, chips, and salsa mixtures every once in awhile. In particular, I don’t return if the chips and salsa are not up to par, but I have since gone back to El Vaquero two or three times so you can guess how delicious the chips and salsa are. I got Azteca soup, Marias enchiladas, and Flan. The Marias is an enchilada dish with three enchiladas covered in mole poblano sauce and cheese served with rice and beans. You can choose black or refried beans. They also have happy hour specials.

Mazah Mediterranean Eatery

Mazah is a small Mediterranean eatery in Grandview. It was just as delicious as other Mediterranean places I have tried back home. I think this is a great place if you want small meals and great conversation with friends. I generally get the same thing at Mediterranean restaurants. Hummus and Pita, Stuffed Cabbage with Lamb, and Almond Baklava; if you haven’t already, I highly suggest trying baklava and stuffed cabbage with lamb. Those are signature dishes.

Cooper’s Hawk – Easton $25, 3 Courses

This night was special because one of my aunts was in town for the weekend so we had to take her some place special. This was also my first time going to Cooper’s so I was excited. Honestly, I am always excited about food. Cooper’s Hawk is a winery and restaurant. They pair each signature dish with handcrafted Cooper’s Hawk wine. Their wine is excellent my friends! I got Crab and Lobster Bisque, Dana’s Parmesan Crusted Chicken, and Salted Caramel Creme Brulee. Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture.

Happy Eating!

Most of my week was spent working on the Learning Garden fundraiser and trying to pull everything together. Definitely the biggest challenge I’ve encountered is making sure that the event is well attended, which involves finding creative ways to get the word out about the event and working with the YMCA marketing team. I actually walked through the neighborhood directly next to the park and personally invited those that live there to come to the event. Though canvassing can be a bit awkward, I enjoyed meeting our neighbors in person and, hopefully, contributing to the Y’s mission to foster community.

The YMCA of Central Ohio has been transitioning to a new system to manage their memberships for the past several weeks or so. Though I don’t use this particular software in my work at the Hoover Y Park, I still receive all of the emails regarding the transition and I’ve seen how hard everyone involved has been working to make things go smoothly. It’s been interesting to see how a huge organization like the YMCA handles something like this.

A particularly nice gesture was that Stephen Ives, the President and CEO of the YMCA of Central Ohio, along with help from his staff, put together a private concert that was held in the Optimist Lodge at the Hoover Y Park. The musical act was Ellis Paul, a pretty well-known singer songwriter/folk musician, who happens to be a close friend of Mr. Ives. He gave a really engaging performance and is a dynamic artist; he also writes children’s books that include songs written about some of America’s most influential people, has published a memoir, and does his own album artwork.

The event was meant to show appreciation to everyone involved with the system transition, since making such a big move can be incredibly frustrating. I was given the opportunity to attend to help out with logistical matters as well as to enjoy the catered food and concert. Those in attendance included YMCA staff, but also the neighbors of the park, which was another great way to build community with them and potentially get them more involved with Hoover.

Hi, hello, welcome! It is Tuesday, AUGUST 1ST which means I am in the very final stretches of my time with LeaderSpark, and it’s also time to get caught up on what happened last week! So let’s get started…

Last week, life was a flurry. I spent a lot of time painting signs, reaching out to organizations, and doing, quite literally, anything I could to tell people about the awesome organization that I am a part of and the back to school retreat that we are hosting. Thankfully, we received some huge donations last week (shoutout to Franklin County!!), so the retreat is now F R E E for all interested students, which has definitely increased our numbers!

In response to Franklin County showing us some love, Kay bought me a bag of kettlecorn and uber-ed me to my meeting at the Columbus Foundation. Needless to say, Friday was a good day. The best part of last week for me, however, was the Fellows Learning Session we had that Friday in conjunction with the Fellows from the Boys and Girls Club of Columbus. The session delved into the missions of the organizations we were working with, our personal missions, and how those two things aligned with our values. I’m the kind of person that constantly thinks about these kinds of things, but I don’t tend to express them with others nearly as often, so getting the chance to sit down and talk with strangers about the things that they are passionate about was a pretty cool opportunity for me. Hearing people talk about the excitement that they have for the future is my absolute FAVORITE thing.

Friday’s Learning Session reinvigorated me to keep working hard at the job I am doing with the Columbus Foundation. It reminded me about how much I LOVE the community that I am working for and how much they DESERVE to be represented, cared for, and fought for. Sometimes all it takes is a simple conversation to remind you that you are exactly where you’re supposed to be.

Thanks for hanging out, and I’ll see you next week.

Until next time, friends,

Sam

Hey Everyone! This week, I’d like to take the time to highlight two places that I was able to visit this past week. As you all know, I am working with the Godman Guild this summer to assist with the summer KEYS employment program. Well, I am working with the 14 and 15 year old students who are taking their time this summer to learn about sustainability and environmental issues. As part of the program, we traveled to the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO) to visit their facility and learn a little more about their environmental initiatives. For those of you who may not know exactly what SWACO does: it is a municipality in central Ohio that collects the county’s solid waste and constructs landfills to store the waste in. SWACO’s facility is located just south of Columbus next to I-71.

It was very cool to visit the SWACO facility because I have learned so much about the facility during my fellowship this summer and in classes at OSU as well. The tour of the facility consisted of a short presentation and a grounds tour. It was amazing how many environmental initiatives that SWACO was a part of. Most of the time we don’t think about what organizations like SWACO are doing for the environment because of what they do as a business.

The other place that I was able to visit this past week was the City of Columbus’ tree nursery. The nursery is located near SWACO off of I-71, and contains approximately 45 acres of land dedicated to raising trees. Most city governments in the state of Ohio just order trees from nurseries when they plant them on public property; however, the City of Columbus is one of the few exceptions and raises their own trees. We met some city employees at the nursery to discuss partnering with them on a new program that Green Columbus is implementing. As part of our Tree Stewardship program, we are facilitating trainings on the planting and pruning of trees to certify individuals as tree stewards. The employees seemed very eager to work with us as they are always pushing forward the tree agenda!

Both facilities that I was able to visit this week were both educational and insightful. I am so grateful for the opportunities like this that the Columbus Foundation Summer Fellowship has given me the chance to be a part of.

Until next time,

Jake

Week 8 was amazing for many reasons.

First, as only 2 weeks are left in my fellowship, I’ve been reflecting on what a great experience I’ve been given.  At the beginning of this summer and fellowship, I didn’t know what to expect and I’ve learned so much.  Before working at CRIS (Community Refugee & Immigration Services), I didn’t even know the biggest refugee population in Columbus (Bhutanese) or the process of helping a family or individual resettle in the United States.  Sadly, I’ve also become relatively familiar with most of the tragedies plaguing the people of the world right now.  More than a few times, I’ve been taken aback by the horrors and crimes committed against the millions of refugees and the realization of how people in those situations must feel immediately humbled me.

Secondly, on Friday the other Columbus Foundation Fellows and I had our last learning session and luncheon at the Columbus Foundation.  This learning session was in conjunction with the Boys & Girls Club (of Columbus) Fellows from this summer.  The Columbus Foundation and the Boys & Girls Club are closely connected and the mission of the Boy & Girls Club, as a nonprofit, is related to the Columbus Foundation Summer Fellowship goal of cultivating nonprofit leadership.

I enjoyed this learning session the most, not only because we had Chipotle catered (!!), but because the lessons were focused on reflecting on our values, personal missions, and our overall similarities.  The supervisor of the Boys & Girls Club Fellows asked us to identify our values and see if they align with what we felt our personal missions are.  As I silently reflected, only one true mission came to mind.  I thought, “To help people who may not be able to help themselves.”  As simply as that.  I have a variety of interests when it comes to careers, but if I get tired or discouraged, all I need to do is to ask myself if I am living with my values and purpose.

A photo of Columbus taken by me.

Additionally, we had a great presentation on the history of new Americans in Columbus, which was very relevant to my summer project.  I learned several new facts about Columbus, such as at one point our city was 1/3 foreign born!  That fact really puts current politics into perspective and disproves the possible phobia of anyone foreign, like refugees and immigrants.  It was awesome to see the difference in Columbus from 200 years ago to now.  There are a lot more buildings and people.  Here is some background on the history of Columbus if you’re interested.

Overall, I loved seeing and meeting all of the young fellows from both programs because I felt like I was in the presence of young, motivated future leaders.  That in itself is truly inspiring.  I now ask myself, “What am I doing every day to reach my goals?”  How about you, reader?  Are you living your true purpose and mission in life?  Some people may know the answer to this, but it’s okay if you don’t know yet.  Just think about what you value in life and how you can live every day with those values.

On that note, I will see you for my final blog post!

Namaste.

Hello! With the conclusion of week 8 here at RMHC, I am still working full force toward finishing up my projects, but as the fellowship comes closer to an end, I am also starting to take some time to reflect. One area that I have enjoyed reflecting on lately is the aspects that I have enjoyed most about working for a non-profit.

One of my favorite things by far is that I love being in an environment where people are so like-minded and passionate, and where their common goal is to serve others before themselves. I have met so many amazing and inspiring people-both through RMHC and the Columbus Foundation- that are so dedicated to their work because this kind of work is something they truly care about. Non-profit organizations certainly have their issues, but the focus is so unique compared to the majority of workplaces. It’s not about feeling constant competition and tension among your co-workers because everyone wants to stand out, or making as much money as possible. It’s about looking for the needs that exist in the community and working together to come up with solutions that will continue to serve our communities better, and I think that is something incredible to be a part of.

Another aspect that I have really enjoyed is that creativity is welcome. There is no “by the book” way to run a non-profit organization. What works tremendously one year might be disastrous the next, needs and demographics in the community might change, budgets might be cut, employees may have to take on several different kinds of roles, and no two days are alike. It’s chaotic at times, but it’s fun chaos. There is ALWAYS a need for innovative and creative ideas, and often times, non-profits are willing to try just about anything. I really enjoy both the ‘anything but monotonous’ atmosphere of being able to take on a variety of tasks and constantly try new things, as well as the ability to use my creativity productively at work. It means so much when I realize that brainstorming ideas for programs, events, fundraisers, communications, etc.-which is already fun for me-truly makes a difference and helps others around me.

I can’t pretend that I have the whole career thing figured out yet. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” is a big question. BUT I do know that I am really passionate about serving others through community development, and that I love being surrounded by like-minded people, having the freedom to put my creativity to work, and switching things up from the normal routine. I am enjoying this experience and having a workplace where all of those things are true, and I’m very excited to continue to pursue more experiences that positively impact communities through non-profit organizations and extension education as I move back into the school year at OSU.

-Courtney

I wish I could take credit for the clever wordplay of my blog post title but my spunky supervisor, Michael, coined that phrase and I thought it would be an injustice to not add it to the blog. This week I had the pleasure of harvesting the herbs in the palette garden and hanging them to dry! We are going to give out sachets of herbs to people who come to the program about herb gardening on August 9th (6:30, please come! It’s free!).  Who knew you can grow herbs like curry and chamomile right here in Ohio? (not me prior to a couple of weeks ago!)

This week I also learned how to feed the turtles here at the center. Seems easy enough, right? Wrong. The softshell turtle was easy enough as she is very sweet and mellow and enjoys playing with the dead fish before eating it. The real thrill is the snapping turtles. We have a common snapping turtle and an alligator snapping turtle here that both like to do just as their name implies-snap. I fed them with a long pair of tweezers but still feared for my fingers as they reached their necks up much longer than expected to claim their lunch.

I gained a whole new respect for these animals that sit in tanks all day. Although mildly domesticated, they are definitely still wild and could take off my hand with one bite (maybe 3, but still). It’s new experiences like turtle feeding that make me so grateful for this fellowship with Grange Insurance Audubon Center.

On Friday the Columbus Foundation and Boys and Girls Club came together to talk about their fellows summer experience and learn a bit about the history of Columbus.  It was really enriching to hear about the work that the Boys and Girls Club is doing and how we can all work together to make Columbus a more inclusive, welcoming place for people from all over the world. It was really great to reflect upon the summer so far and to talk with the other fellows about what they are learning. It was an important reminder to me to stop and reflect more often, not just when I am at the end of a certain season in my life.

Tori

And just like that we are at the end of week eight! As we get closer and closer to our annual fundraiser, the Worthington Resource Pantry continues to work hard to get its voice and mission out to our neighbors. Something I got to do this week, which I really enjoyed, was spending some time to walk around downtown Worthington distributing our Save-the-Date postcards to people, but mostly to local businesses. Connecting with local business owners is such an important and FUN part of the work done by the pantry and being able to go around introducing myself and explaining our cause was something I know will prove to be well worth my time.

You can find one of these at most any Worthington business!

Another cool part of my week was being able to sit in on a Social Enterprise Accelerator class, also known as SEA Change, at the Columbus Metropolitan Library on Wednesday night. Our executive director, Jennifer, has been attending these classes for the social enterprise aspect of the pantry (which I won’t share because it is still in the works, but just know it is going to be awesome!). We were able to learn about networking via strong and weak ties, how to fund your social enterprise, more about how to access grants, etc. It was interesting to hear from other people in the non-profit world ask questions and learn that many organizations struggle with the same problems. Being able to gather multiple potential social enterprises in one room and help them all at once is something that really impressed me, and I learned so much!

Our team’s selfie at SEA Change!

Every day that I get to come to the Worthington Resource Pantry and be apart of this fantastic team is another day I’m thankful for! These next two weeks will fly by, I’m sure, but in the mean time, it’s back to work!

Until next week,

Natalie

One of the many things I love about Columbus is the entertainment. There are summer concerts, festivals with live music, and performances by local artists. You can always find something to do here, especially in the arts. So when I found out the Columbus Foundation scheduled an excursion to a concert at Columbus Commons, I was ECSTATIC. Who doesn’t love a free rock concert? Correction, who doesn’t love any free concert? Reaganomics played some great classics and were very entertaining. Let’s be honest, 80s rock is always a great time! It was definitely a great concert. If you would like to hear more from Reaganomics, please see their website here. They might be playing in your area soon!

If rock music isn’t your thing, there are also free art shows around the city. Recently, I saw this FANTASTIC art show at Art of Republic on July 1st. The featured artist was Percy King who uses a “blend of art, music, martial art flicks, and self-taught carpentry” to create wooden portraits. Percy is a Columbus local who graduated from The Ohio State University and had an extensive sales career before pursuing his creative dreams full-time. His technique is called The Shaolin Wood Technique. He recreated key hip-hop legends and made each portrait 3D for his first collection. Check out his work at www.artbypercy.wordpress.com/. You won’t be disappointed! Can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.

Now if art isn’t your thing, you can check out opera and theater performances in Columbus and surrounding areas like New Albany. Through Columbus Children’s Choir, I experienced my second opera. No disappointment here, both were fantastic. The cast performed Giacomo Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and II Tabarro at McCoy Center. The audience was full of excited friends, family, and people new to theater. My favorite performance was Gianni Schicchi, it was absolutely hilarious! Besides the acting, the depth of each singer’s voice was incredible, out of this world, and unimaginable. Listening to the men and women hit these high and low octave notes were mind blowing. I was overcome with emotion as their passion flowed through each note and word as they performed. They are so talented!

Columbus has a really great art scene and I fully intend to explore more of it.