Ohio State Grange Community Service Program 2023-2024

Welcome Community Service Directors. Ohio State Grange 150 Years Looking Forward To The Future won’t this be a year to celebrate. How many times can you donate $150 to help your community and celebrate our sesquicentennial as an organization in Ohio. How about a bake sale where items are $1.50 and so on. I look forward to hearing what you do this year in regards to community service projects. We seem to be learning how to deal with the virus and resuming our lives creating a new normal. Remember Community Service is one of the main pillars of our Grange mission. You play an integral role in your local Grange activities that directly affect your community and members. Membership can be built on the foundation of your programs making people want to be part of the good works that you do so be sure to publicize them. Also remember to recognize those in your communities in the fields of education, law enforcement and fire fighters. This also puts your Grange in the spotlight. Refer to this issue for programs involving community service. But remember if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions.

Community Service Annual Report

As our title suggests, you are charged with supporting your local grange in all the wonderful service projects that are done that support the communities in which we live. As part of that role, you should keep records of all the projects your grange participates documenting the details of the projects, how many Grangers and sometimes non-Grangers helped with the project and retain copies of any publicity that shows the Grange in action. At the annual Ohio State Grange convention, the county deputies receive a packet for you which includes copies of the report form you are to complete. The deadline to submit all reports and nominations for the community service awards is September 1st each year. The reason for the deadline, is I must submit our top report and participation results to the National Grange Community Service director by October 1st. You will mail your report to me and the address is on the form. If you misplace any of the forms or need additional copies of them, all the forms are on the Ohio State Grange website under the forms section with the heading Community Service.

Lecturer & Community Service Workshop

The annual Lecturer & Community Service workshop will be Saturday, March 2, 2024. You do not have to be a Lecturer or Community Service Director to attend. The meeting is held at the Ohio State Grange Office, so bring a carload of Grangers with you. This is a day full of sharing information and participants leave with more than they arrived with. There is a minimal charge for the day which includes morning snacks and lunch. You will contact the State Grange office to reserve your seat for the day.

Community Service Recognition Awards

***Teacher***Police Officer***Fire Fighter***Volunteerism***

***Granger of the Year***

Recognition is another way we publicize our grange by honoring those that play an important role in our communities. The National Grange has specific awards that recognize those in the occupational fields of Education, Firefighting and Law Enforcement. You can recognize both Grange members and non-Grange members for these awards and we can recognize both at the state level, however we will only send one entry for each of those awards to the National Grange from Ohio. Also, at the Subordinate and State level we also recognize individuals for their volunteerism and again you can honor both a grange and non-grange member for those awards. These are your awards and you should own them. Feel free to submit pertinent information that you want the judges to review so we have a clear picture of the achievements of your candidates – this should include supporting documentation like newspaper and magazine articles talking about their accomplishments and other awards they have received. Also, if you perform interviews with their family or work associates please include this information in the application. The judges only have the information you supply them with.

If you have a state winning award recipient, the Ohio State Grange will pay for the convention banquet meal ticket for the award recipient. If the award recipient wants to bring family members to see them get the award, typically the local grange or Pomona will pay for any additional banquet tickets. Otherwise, you must ask the award recipient to pay for the meals. Orchestrating what meals, they want, how many are attending for table placement is all information that will need to be finalized quickly when we are preparing for convention.

Ohio State Grange Hall of Fame

Another recognition for Ohio State Grange members for notable service above and beyond, is by submitting a resolution to the Ohio State Grange office in Fredericktown by the resolution deadline. The resolutions are all reviewed at convention and brought before the delegate body. Those individuals that have received this prestigious award are listed on a plague at the Ohio State Grange Office.

Ohio State Grange Community Service Project

We continue to support the Flying Horse Farm with financial donations. A camp for medically fragile children who attend at no cost as part of the SeriousFun Children’s Network. A place where children are not defined by their illnesses. They deliver unforgettable camp experiences that have a lifechanging impact. Please send your grange’s donations to the Ohio State Grange office, designating the Flying Horse Farm. We typically present the total donations to them at our annual convention.

National Grange In Action Program

For a third year, I am asking Ohio Granges to participate in the National Grange “Grange In Action” program which is explained on the National Grange website. It is so simple you email a one sheet page to them with at least 3 photos of what your Grange activities are with them labeled. All Granges that satisfy the requirements as they have listed are recognized at the National convention. Let us keep Ohio as a State Grange in Action by our participation.

Community Service Forms — Scroll down to Community Service under forms.