ROTR Kick-Off Happy Hour Party!

Plans for the 7th Annual Rolling on the River are well-underway! The Friends Committee of the Hunger Network of Greater Cleveland is very excited for the casino-themed party to be held on Friday, September 20th at Windows on the River. Please mark your calendar for this event!

In fact, the Friends are so excited for ROTR '13, they have decided to host a Kick-Off Happy Hour Party this Thursday! These young professionals are so energetic, sometimes it's hard for me to keep up! Meet & mingle with the Friends and learn more about Rolling on the River, as well as the Hunger Network! The Kick-Off Happy Hour Party will be hosted at Reddstone in Battery Park at 1261 West 76th Street in Cleveland.

While networking, enjoy complimentary appetizers from Reddstone, drink specials, raffles PLUS Reddstone’s amazing patio and cornhole! Our fingers are crossed for good weather.

Glenn Anderson & Allan Fee of Q104's Fee's Kompany are ROTR '13's Celebrity Hosts and will also be in attendance on Thursday! Swing by to meet them and roll the dice for your chance to 2 tickets to a concert at Blossom on July 17th featuring Train/The Script/Gavin DeGraw [donated from Q104].
In addition, the Friends Committee will also be selling tickets to Rolling on the River with a $5 per ticket discount! If you purchase at that Kick-Off Happy Hour Party, you can snag your tickets for only $54 vs. $59! That includes everything for the party - dinner, drinks, gaming, entertainment and more!

Can you believe it, all this fun wrapped up into 1 night?!

You won't want to miss either event! Mark your calendar for this Thursday, June 27th - all of our Friends hope to see you there!!

And, don't worry Cavs fans! The NBA Draft doesn't start until 8pm that night...plenty of time for fun with our Friends before that 'tips off!' Go Cavs!!

Planting Day at the Mange Garden!

Saturday, May 11th was a special day at Crocker Park's North Union Farmer's Market - it was Planting Day in the Mange Garden.
I went along with a group of kids from the Garden Valley Hunger Center who volunteered their time and energy, to plant vegetables that will soon be donated to our hunger centers on the west side of Cleveland. The Crocker Park Team welcomed us to the Mange Garden that morning and we quickly got started planting all sorts of fruits and veggies like: cantaloupe, lettuce and onions, oh my! There was a separate area for oodles of tomato plants and an area for cucumbers - yum!

We learned about the importance of nutrition and how beneficial fresh veggies and fruits are to our daily diets. After planting all morning, we had worked up quite an appetite. Crocker Park treated us to lunch outside of Liquid Planet, and we enjoyed it under the sunshine!

This new partnership with Crocker Park's Mange Garden is in support of the Hunger Network's Garden for Giving. The Garden for Giving program was created approximately 3 years ago and continues to grow. Fresh fruits and vegetables are one of the most difficult food items to get into the hands of our clients, but most important to a nutritious diet. The program's goal was to establish gardens at hunger centers that had enough land, a water source and the volunteers to run the garden. For the centers that are not able to host their own gardn, we are working hard to establish connections with local community gardens, such as the Mange Garden.

The Mange Garden hopes to donate over 1,000 pounds of fresh produce to the Hunger Network this year. We are so grateful for their support!

You can visit the Mange Garden during Crocker Park's North Union Farmer's Market - every Saturday from 9:00am-1:00pm. More information on the Farmer's Market can be found at http://www.crockerpark.com/events/family-activities/information/north-union-farmers-market