By Brett Hetherington*
Food, music, games, and resources drew many from Akron to the OPEN M summer picnic. OPEN M, the abbreviated name of Opportunity Parish Ecumenical Neighborhood Ministry, is an Advance Special of the East Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church that desires to present the gospel and be good neighbors.
“We’re here to strengthen the community, so we want to show Jesus’ love here and just meet the neighbors,” OPEN M Director of Development Elizabeth Kargbo said of the annual picnic. Sixteen organizations were present to aid attendees who were seeking employment assistance, inroads to education, medical assistance, and even a stop in the mobile ultrasound unit.
“Most of these organizations we work with year-round, some are helping people get jobs, some are working with the clinic, but all of them are really making a difference in people’s lives,” said Kargbo.
OPEN M has transformed lives, one person and one family at a time, in Akron and Summit County for more than 50 years, serving 67,000 people each year through three core areas: Food Services, Health Services and Employment Services.
Peninsula United Methodist Church (Northern Waters District) has a long history with OPEN M. The congregation started by helping serve meals in 1982 and has been heavily involved ever since. The church decided to make this year’s cookout a part of its local mission strategy.
“This is our ‘staycation’ mission trip this year,” shared Rev. Lea Mahan, pastor of Peninsula UMC. She shared how the church was rotating groups to serve in shifts, running games and activities for children who came to the cookout. “We are really here to interact with the community,” she said.
Sylvia Trundle added, “Peninsula has been doing more locally focused mission trips. They seem to make a lot more sense. There’s enough need in our area to find things. We’ve been helping other churches, and this year they came up with this idea to help OPEN M out since we were so attached to them already in various ways.” She has a unique perspective, as a member of Peninsula UMC, a retired member of the OPEN M board of directors and a retired member of the Akron police department.
“I patrolled this area a lot and I heard about this organization that was doing good work,” Trundle said. “I thought it’s always good to know the resources as a police officer, who’s doing what in the community and I was blown away by what the vision was, and it has just kind of grown exponentially with what they do programmatic wise, job empowerment, the clinic, the food pantry.”
She was joined at the cookout by multiple current in-uniform Akron police officers. “We invited them,” shared Kelly Hetherington, OPEN M Employment Services manager. “They came to the job fair as well. The police department is always looking for ways to let the community know that they are here for them.”
The day’s festivities were lighthearted, Police officers were playing basketball with neighborhood children. Balloon animals were being made for kids while parents were getting information about community resources. And a clown entertained an audience while Summit County Prosecutor Elliot Kolkovich spent time talking with people enjoying their hot dogs.
“I think the impact of OPEN M on the community is self-evident when you see an event like this the people it kind of draws you can see how important it is to the community,” Kolkovich said. He went on to share that he himself had come to the cookout as a way to connect with the community as a way to help them see the justice system as a positive entity. “In this line of work, you don’t want to meet people. As I joke, ‘I don’t want to see you again’ because I don’t want to see them come through the office as a witness or a victim. But if they go through anything I want them to have a knowledge of our office that we’re going to be there for them. That’s very important.”
OPEN M strives to be a good neighbor in the Akron area. The mission to meet the needs of food, health and jobs is a vital one in the community, and it aligns tightly with the East Ohio Conference desire to “be God’s agents of transformation in our communities and throughout the world.” The annual cookout is more than just an opportunity to get people together for a good time. It is a chance for the people of God to be the hands and feet of God in His world.
The Conference Communications team would like to share other stories that highlight ways that each of us is answering the call of Bishop Tracy S. Malone to reach out to our communities in creative ways. Please e-mail your ministry story to EOC Executive Director of Communications Rick Wolcott at wolcott@eocumc.com.
* Brett Hetherington is the Communications specialist for the East Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church.
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