Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve been fortunate to have remained open and operating our business as usual. We also realized quickly back in March, many families were not as fortunate and were struggling to put food on the table.
Kids and Community Partners stepped up in a big way, immediately working with our partner program Dayton Early College Academy to help students and their families through these challenging times. A total of 263,340 meals were distributed between March and July with the help of 41 Connor Group volunteers. These associates sorted, organized, packed and distributed massive amounts of food. Of course, we measured the impact:
Loaves of bread: 4,498
Apples: 11,178
Oranges: 16,995
Organic milk: 18,806 individual cartons
Contribution value: $387,514.71
Program manager Sharla Pyle ran point on coordinating all Connor Group volunteers. The outpouring of support from our associates she witnessed was overwhelming.
“To say my heart was full after reflecting on these numbers is an understatement,” Sharla said. “Personally, it was a gift having the opportunity to share The Connor Group culture with DECA staff, students and their families. Larry gave us the opportunity to bring ‘people count’ and ‘do the right thing’ to life in Dayton and our associates embraced the opportunity to serve this community week after week.”
Our collective efforts were a lifeline to our Dayton neighbors during one of their greatest times of need.
“We kept these families fed and thriving to get from one week to the next, which was a vital impact in and of itself,” Sharla said. “The impact that is harder to see with the naked eye is the gift of gratitude and hope this program offered DECA students and families during a time where many folks across the world felt hopeless. DECA administrators and I received hand-written notes, texts, words of affirmation and tears of joy from families came through the line on distribution days. I’ve never felt a stronger motivation to succeed at anything in my life.”
Thank you to everyone who volunteered time, making our efforts a success. People count!
| Name | Total Individual hours | Total family hours |
| Gayle Horton | 12 | |
| Jerry Yates | 12 | |
| Larry Connor | 8 | |
| Wendy Taylor | 8 | 16 |
| Wendy Green | 10 | |
| Keri Stafford | 6 | 8 |
| Dennis LaPointe | 6 | |
| Chuck Denning | 4 | |
| Amanda Brown | 4 | |
| Doug McGraw | 4 | |
| Krista Henehan | 4 | 6 |
| Greg Roberto | 4 | 8 |
| Shane Connor | 4 | 6 |
| Connie Hart | 6 | 12 |
| Christie Miles | 4 | |
| Meredith Quigley | 6 | 8 |
| Debbie Garber | 4 | |
| Krista Spires | 3 | |
| A.J. Stich | 2 | |
| Mollie Courtney | 2 | |
| Sarah Burns | 2 | |
| Ben Cotton | 2 | 10 |
| Josh Stanley | 2 | |
| Brett Hunter | 2 | |
| Rodney Johnson | 2 | |
| Chis Jemo | 2 | 8 |
| Naaman Beck | 2 | |
| Mark Prunier | 2 | 8 |
| Kevin Hyland | 2 | 10 |
| Ben Cotton | 4 | 8 |
| Casey Petrae | 2 | |
| Dustin Werden | 2 | 8 |
| Dave Peacock | 2 | |
| Angela Burns | 2 | 8 |
| Samantha Leslein | 2 | |
| Jenna Randolph | 2 | |
| Madi Prether | 2 | |
| Scarlett Vercher | 2 | |
| Luke Fraizer | 2 |
