Olin, IA

Thirty-eight children in Olin are developing new skills to stay safe in the water.  Children participated in two weeks of Red Cross swimming lessons at the pool in the neighboring community of Anamosa.  The Horizons project provided 20 scholarships to assist with the cost of the lessons.  Horizons funding also assisted with gasoline costs to transport the children to the classes.  Having swimming lessons available to all children is of special concern to the community because of the easy accessibility to the river and creeks in Olin and the drowning of two children nine years ago.  Scholarships are also being provided for children to participate in a day camp sponsored by Iowa State University Extension.  The camp will focus on experiential, research-based science activities and healthy, nutritional snacks will be served.  It had to be postponed until later summer because of flooding in the community. 

Local residents of the Olin Community in conjunction with the Horizons project recently shared free samples and recipes through a project called “Fresh from the Garden”.  The target audience was participants using the local food pantry.  The food pantry touches residents from Olin and surrounding areas.  The hope of this project is to give ideas for using things from the garden that are tasty, easy to fix, and are received during their visit to the food pantry.

As a Horizons participant, I would like to share how our community successfully helped my family members who were facing severe financial hardship. My daughter’s finance was in a bad burn accident while my daughter was 8-1/2 months pregnant with their first child. With this trauma, the baby was delivered early. Facing the chance she might lose the love of her life and raise a child by herself, she was a mess. The doctors told her it was going to be a long recovery and that he would be out of work for at least a year. My daughter was out of work for six weeks on maternity leave. She was worried about how she would pay the bills, have gas and parking money to be with her finance at the hospital in Iowa City, and pay the very high medical bills.

When they learned of the situation, friends, neighbors, and businesses started fundraising events for them. Some of those who were involved were Horizons participants. They put out donation cans and organized several events including a bake sale, taco supper with raffle items, and a soup supper hosted by two cities’ Lion’s Clubs. It was overwhelming! Their care has prevented this young family from moving into poverty and possible bankruptcy. I’m so very proud to live in a town that gives a helping hand when it’s needed.

Karen