This is the 33th year of the annual Gennesaret "Home Run for the Homeless" - WOW! - 33 years is such a landmark achievement of every one of you who have participated over these past 32 years. Your participation in the "Home Run for the Homeless" has truly been a "Home Run" for the poor and homeless of the greater Akron area.
There will be awards to top performers and a keepsake medal and other goodies, so bring the whole family and come out and kick-off the holiday season with an Akron tradition, that also helps so many needy throughout the year. Since Gennesaret, Inc. is an innovative all-volunteer nonprofit corp., all proceeds go directly to serving those in dire financial straits through our Family Nutritional Center and our family housing apartments. On behalf of those who are challenged in these tough economic times, we thank you for your support of our endeavors. We also hope to see you at the 33rd-annual "Home Run for the Homeless."
Once again Featuring:
Olympian Butch Reynolds
and Santa.
Gennesaret Inc. 419 W. Exchange Street Akron, Ohio 330-379-1057
Gods Majestic Stove and Oven An extraordinary gift from God was most recently and vividly experienced through the First Congregational Church in Hudson. The Youth Group planned and hosted a highly congregation-supported pancake breakfast. We have had the privilege to meet a sampling of folks from this church and have found true disciples of Christ in their Godly example of living scripture. As with all of the wonderful volunteers who come to Gennesaret to serve the Lord, they are full of joy and Godly vigor. The youth raised $5,000, which was matched by an anonymous donor from the church. The money was raised to purchase a stove for our soup kitchen. Our old six-burner stove was estimated to be 65-years-old. It was dependable like an old tank, but its door could not close completely, leaving much hot air to escape into an atmosphere that oftentimes already resembles a sauna. On Saturdays it was a challenge for our volunteer cooks to fit all the restaurant-sized pots of fresh peeled and sliced potatoes on the old stovetop. Our new shiny-steel 10-burner, two-oven stove plus an additional convection oven have made the hectic conditions at our humble soup kitchen a little more bearable. Perhaps all our heads could swell a little with pride over these glamorous new cooking appliances, and maybe we are a little overwhelmed as we drive into our parking lot and witness the massive exhaust and intake systems that would look quite at home on a jet engine. But, by the grace of God, we remain in awe over the magnitude of Gods blessings in our Family Nutritional Center (soup kitchen). God brought together many holy people who were focused on making a difference in whatever way possible. Spiro Goomas was instrumental in convincing his friend and business associate into selling this new stove and oven to Gennesaret at less than half the normal price. We could have been forced to pay over $8,000 just for the 10-burner stove, but we purchased both the stove and convection oven for a little over $4,000. Gods majesty is ever-present. Our additional costs were for the purchase and installation of the regulation-sized hood with its code-approved ventilation system. Plus we needed to increase the gas-line size, and hook-up the new appliances. Some of this was done at a discount by another friend of the poor, Wilson Plumbing and Heating. The First Congregational Church in Akron was also instrumental in covering these additional costs of installing the stove and oven, as were numerous other angels of God who made donations, gave advice and coordinated a process that took a few weeks. What a beautiful example of Gods people coming together from many walks of life for one purpose, to serve God by serving one another. ...For each time you do this to the least of My brothers, you do it to Me. God Bless you all!
Thanks to all of the students from schools in the greater Akron area who donated canned goods, toiletries, and money. The strength of the youth in a society is an indication of our how our future will unfold. We at Gennesaret are very optimistic of our future in Akron, Ohio. We are very fortunate to have many youth who are leading examples of character and compassion.
Our Family Nutritional Center continues to serve the poor and hungry of the greater Akron area. We serve about 600 meals per week with our 300 + volunteers. Our food is either donated from many generous merchants in the community or obtained from the Akron Food Bank. We are continually striving to improve our facility to better serve our brethren. Some of the upgrades are listed below.
A new tile floor in the entire eating area, valued at $8,000.00. Thanks to Lisa Schmidtke of Schmidtke Interior Designs for making this happen and a generous donor.
A sturdy stand for our new mixer for mashing 110 lbs. of potatoes every Saturday morning. Thanks to Covenant Community Church for their donation of this mixer and for making the stand!
A new facelift on the interior of four of our two-bedroom apartments located on Cedar St., making them attractive living accommodations.
Special Thanks to Joan Kunklier for all of her hard work in researching, writing, submitting and most importantly "WINNING" all of the grants which we have been blessed with. These funds enable us to continue our work.
A continuous supply of very loving and caring volunteers, who selflessly give of their time and talents. Welcome aboard!
Our Transitional Housing program is continuing to grow. Our first family in our revised program which promotes home ownership, has bought their own home. Thanks to St. Hillary's Parish for their work with this family.
Our Job skills training center is partially completed. We have the main training area ready for certain training opportunities. The training curriculum will include PC skills as soon as the wiring to support (20) pc's is finished. We have been fortunate to receive 20 pentiums for use in this training.
Contact Us:
Gennesaret, Inc. P.O. Box 1253 Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio 44223
