Olin, IA

Olin Schools participated in Earth Day activities on Monday, April 21, 2008. Elementary students picked up garbage around the school; middle school students raked leaves and picked up sticks at the park; and high school students cleaned up around town, picked up trash along the highway, recycled newspapers, and cleaned up several yards in Olin. The activities lasted approximately two hours.

The students gained appreciation for their school, community, and environment by participating in the Earth Day activities. Many students commented on the value of recycling and throwing away garbage in the proper receptacles. Student Council president, Kalli Hansen, stated, “I didn’t realize how much trash gets thrown away in this town.” Other students simply enjoyed the opportunity to work outdoors and have a two-hour break from school. Sophomore Chelsae Wagner said, “I liked being outside picking up trash instead of sitting in English class.”

Earth Day activities were made possible by the Olin Student Council, Emmy Carlson, Butch Graf, Chet Lief, Jones County DOT, and Jamie Fuhrmeister. These people scouted out areas in need of cleaning, helped pick up garbage, and donated time and supplies for the event. Earth Day would not have occurred without their help.

Two of the Leadership Plenty® members have joined forces to get volunteers for a neighborhood watch. Three meetings have been held with several people in attendance. Our strongest points tend to be on bullying and safety of our kids. It was brought up that poverty is somewhat an abuse to our children. Children have been left alone so the parents can go to work. Or there is no money in the household to feed or warm them. People don’t realize or they are afraid to ask for help. Our last meeting we had a guest speaker from CPPC (Community Partnerships for Protecting Children). She explained that if we get word out that there is help it would hopefully bring down poverty. Another project that is getting started is the safety bee. Bullying is greater every day. We are asking familiar neighbors if they will have a safety Bee in the windows for kids that need a safe house to go to if in trouble. Another way is to ask people to just sit on their porch at night and watch the surroundings. I think this will be a positive outcome to help people in need and the safety of our kids.

A memorial unity park is being developed to promote communication among community members. The lead citizen has been a participant of Study Circles and active in the LeadershipPlenty training. Several families donated $2,500 to start the creation of the park in an empty lot along Olin’s main thoroughfare. Another major source of funding for the park is through sales of memory bricks. Any memory can be inscribed. It is hoped that community members will spend time together reading and discussing the various memories. The park will have sidewalk lighting, electrical outlets, picnic tables, and benches. The park will be used for a farmer’s market, dances, picnics, and other group gatherings. They hope to have an information center providing contacts for jobs, items for sale, assistance programs, etc. The park is being built by community volunteers who are providing physical labor, equipment, monetary donations, materials, etc. A fund raiser was held in July to raise funds for the sod. Another fundraiser will be held on Memorial Day to honor veterans. The memorial bricks for veterans will be placed along the edge of the sidewalks and the flags will be raised for the first time in the park.

During Leadership Plenty® training, a new partnership was formed with Community Partnerships for Protecting Children (CPPC). A presentation was given to the group explaining what CPPC does and their projected outcomes. The goal of CPPC is to create an awareness of child abuse, implement prevention and education for families, and provide access to support. Olin newly trained leaders were invited to create an Olin team of CPPC. Potential team members will also be represented on a county CPPC steering committee.

Another wonderful outcome was the distribution of a Human Services Directory from CPPC. The directory lists names and phone numbers for services including counseling, shelters, food banks, senior citizen services, and many other Human Services agencies for young parents to adolescents to Social Security Administration. Some Horizon members have taken copies of the directory to pass to many families who could benefit from this. The directory was recently reprinted and copies will be distributed to all households in Olin through the O-Town Times community newsletter. In some cases, a family in poverty needs a little information to assist them in getting out of their situation. Providing access to help from the privacy of their own homes can be very beneficial. Helping children and adults to help themselves can be educational as well as improve their self esteem.

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

Olin community members were brought together by the Horizons program to discuss what we can do to help our community be at its best and to bring new people to Olin to live. One of the changes has been accomplished. Our main goal was communication. One of the ways to improve communication would be to have an Olin newspaper. With the help of 2 Leadership Plenty® members, 1 Leadership Plenty® certified facilitator and a Study Circle facilitator, we now have a monthly newsletter.

The O-Town Times has information on all the upcoming events on a calendar, announcements, a fun activity for the family, and business ads. To keep operating costs low, the paper and printing of the O-Town Times is donated by one of the local businesses. The newspaper is sustained by the opportunity for low cost advertisements and sponsorships of local businesses and residents. The cost is low to deliver to 650 homes by having it inserted in the local county-wide paper. This county-wide paper is delivered to each Olin mailbox at no cost.

This has been a tremendous achievement. One resident has claimed that the newsletter lets her know which she can pick up items from the food pantry, now that pick up is only a once a month. She also said it is very important to let grandparents, other relatives or neighbors know about school events. Not everyone has access to the information on the internet.

Written by Karen Townsend

A new partnership has been created in Olin. Funding is tight for all cities. In order to improve the offerings of the Olin Heritage Center, Olin’s museum, the Historical Commission holds an annual Holiday Fest fundraiser for the Olin Heritage Center. This is a low cost event for families to enjoy some Christmas fun including having a photo with Santa Claus, goodies bags, free raffle drawings for the children, activities and treats for all ages.

This year a new group of folks from the Horizons Action Team assisted with a very inexpensive activity that provided many folks young and old with lots of entertainment and some prizes. The O-Town Community Action team created “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree” for the event. The members of the team gathered some donated prizes and created the game similar to a “cake walk”. Over 200 folks joined in the fun. Lots of laughs were heard and fun was had by all who participated and watched. Plus, some additional money was raised to help the Olin Heritage Center.

One of the facilitators for the study circles, Chuck Liston and one of Olin’s certified Leadership Plenty® trainers, Roger Kistler, have joined the Olin Economic Development Commission. The OEDC has had some struggles for the past two years. This was due to a lack of solid leadership. With these new additions, the commission has taken on some new projects to really benefit the citizens of Olin.

The first impact took place with a “Meet the Candidates” forum for all residents to attend to ask any questions they may have prior to the city election in November, 2007. The OEDC sponsored the event. This was planned out so that everyone was able to ask a question of one candidate or of all candidates. Roger had set an agenda with timelines for the evening. He also facilitated and assisted in keeping the questions and answers to the limited time. This really helped in keeping the focus on the purpose of the evening.

Another impact is in progress. The City has applied for a Housing Rehabilitation Grant to assist low income families. The OEDC is the committee assisting the Council of Governments with the application process and take some the pressure off of the City Clerk and the City Council. If more homes can be improved with a forgivable loan, those residents who are already low income will be able to assist in making Olin more appealing to new families to move here and therefore assist in improving the local economy.