$147K in pledges 'pulls at the heartstrings': Community Foundation releases Connect to a Cause totals

AMHERST TWP. — When times got tough, more than 1,000 donors stepped up to give $147,000 to the nonprofits that help local residents in need. The Community Foundation of Lorain County released the results Thursday of its 12-hour Connect to a Cause web-a-thon, streamed Sept. 17 on Facebook Live. The numbers exceeded all expectations, according to Marketing and Communications Officer Brittany Lovett. "It pulls at the heartstrings," she said. Callers made pledges to 56 nonprofits that provide food, clothing, health, education, emergency relief and other services. The Community Foundation board added $40,000 to the total. It also awarded $10,000 bonuses to the Lorain County Community College Foundation for raising the most money, and Main Street Amherst for rallying the most donors. The college was the single-biggest earner during the 12-hour fundraiser, pulling in $25,502.72 for its Advocacy and Resource Center, which helps students by providing access to food, counseling, financial assistance and other resources. That kind of assistance is desperately needed during the pandemic, said Community Foundation President and CEO Cynthia Andrews. "Considering how COVID-19 has impacted our community, we are amazed by the generosity of our community," she said. "Seventy percent of our donations were given by people who donated $50 or less and will be distributed right back to our nonprofits to continue doing great work right here in Lorain County." Lovett said she was touched by the show of support for groups like Elyria-based Echoing Hills, which helps people with disabilities. "It's really powerful listening to what I call the 'feet on the street,'" she said — people who have dedicated every day to helping others, many of whom haven't taken time off since the pandemic started in March. Oberlin Community Services, which provides food, rent and utility assistance to people living in the southern half of the county, raised $8,069.27. Executive Director Margie Flood said the donations are welcome. Need dropped off in May, June and July but has skyrocketed again this fall. Now evictions are back in swing, utilities are starting to get shut off and people who lost their jobs or are dealing with furloughs have exhausted their savings, she said. Drive-through food distributions run by OCS on Monday and Wednesday were good indicators of increased need. "Both were really high numbers for us. It didn't quite break the record, but close for any one day distribution," Flood said. Kathy Burns, client services coordinator at Oberlin Community Services, said her casework numbers are up 20 percent for the fiscal year. Close to 100 people asked for help with rent and utilities in August and the same in September, she said. "It's just been this constant stream of people calling... I've seen a lot of people who have never been here before, people who I saw maybe once back toward the end of the recession," Burns said. She said they are "people who own homes just trying to keep their heads above water," people who are elderly, restaurant wait staff, workers who lost their once-stable jobs after 15 to 20 years, single moms and parents who have had to quit work to stay home with children. Lovett said the Community Foundation has been putting the majority of its financial assistance — more than two-thirds — toward nonprofits that help in the health and human services and youth and education sectors. A main goal, she said, is to help those organizations that haven't been able to hold regular fundraisers because of the pandemic. "We're not washing our hands, we're not letting them go," she said. Connect to a Cause is expected to return in 2021. The Foundation relies on "everyday philanthropists" to give, whether it's $10 or $10,000, Lovett said. A party is planned for Connect to a Cause participants at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 1, at Lakeview Park in Lorain, where checks will be awarded. Social distancing and masks will be required. Fundraising totals• 100 Women Who Care About Lorain County — $5,128.86 • A Dementia Friendly Life — $918.64 • Avon Lake City Schools Foundation — $3,013.07• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lorain County — $748.74 • Blessing House — $ 10,752.68 • BOFE Lupus Foundation — $435.34 • Boy Scouts of America, Lake Erie Council — $265.58 • Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio — $2,907.92 • City Fresh — $5,323.35 • Cleveland Hearing & Speech Center — $204.84 • Coalition for Hispanic Issues and Progress — $69.13 • Common Ground-The Cindy Nord Center for Renewal — $1,561.25 • Community Congregational United Church of Christ — $1,436.46 • Echoing Hills — $3,094.40 • Effective Leadership Academy — $236.71 • El Centro de Servicios Sociales — $4,676.78 • Elyria Arts Council — $412.09 • Firelands Association for the Visual Arts — $1,829.87 • Foundation of the Lorain Public Library System — $1,912.72 • French Creek YMCA — $1,410.31 • Friendship Animal Protective League — $3,189.11 • Girl Scouts of North East Ohio — $848.09 • Grafton-Midview Public Library — $3,250.67 • Leadership Lorain County — $6,116.41 • Legal Aid Society of Cleveland — $438.79 • Lorain County Community College Foundation — $25,502.72 • Lorain County Free Clinic — $4,560.18 • Lorain County Habitat for Humanity — $733.68 • Lorain County Historical Society — $4,683.61 • Lorain County Imagination Library — $2,229.37 • Lorain County Joint Vocational School — $184.76 • Lorain County Metro Parks — $13,611.19 • Lorain County Urban League — $6,661.92 • Lorain Historical Society — $1,157.69 • Lucy Idol Center — $253.29 • Main Street Amherst — $13,773.50 • Main Street Vermilion — $1,912.04 • Main Street Wellington — $5,819.72 • Mighty Goliath Productions — $3,002.50 • Neighborhood Alliance — $8,637.06 • Nord Center — $4,195.33 • Oberlin Business Partnership — $2,181.97 • Oberlin Choristers — $315.74 • Oberlin Community Services Council — $8,069.27 • Partners with Paws of Lorain County — $721.43 • Salvation Army of Lorain County — $1,189.67 • Save Our Children — $2,071.00 • Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio — $6,048.88 • Southern Lorain County Historical Society — $1,750.85 • Teen Leadership Corps — $756.32 • The LCADA Way — $998.22 • The Mary Lee Tucker Fund — $1,141.64 • United Way of Greater Lorain County — $2,076.25 • Voices for Children — $477.40 • We Care We Share — $525.37 • YWCA Elyria — $1,910.30 Contact Jason Hawk at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com.