Compassion Games

September 11 – 21

History of the Games

The Compassion Games started when Compassionate Louisville declared itself the most compassionate city. Compassionate Seattle organizers declared, “Game On”! Cities began coopeteting to prove how they were the most compassionate. Now, every year between September 11th and the 21st (United Nations Peace Day), cities around the globe record and report the number of volunteers; number of volunteer hours; number of dollars collected, if any; and the number of people affected, if measurable.

Toledo has been participating since 2014 and our city has consistently ranked near the top in at least two categories.

How the Games Work

MFC catalogs compassionate activity already occurring in the region between the 11th and 21st of September each year. We encourage local organizations, businesses and individuals to register and report their numbers. MFC tallys and reports to Compassion Games International.

NW Ohio Compassion Games Results

For more information on the Compassion Games, visit http://compassiongames.org/

Heroes of Compassion

First Inductees 2012:

Sr. Mary Angelita Abair -decades of work central Toledo poor, marginalized, imprisoned, and disabled
Cherry Street Mission -emergency shelter, food and other assistance
Dr. Lawrence V. Conway,
The Diller Foundation
-medical equipment and supplies to many deserving countries and the Medical Hall of Fame
Judge Charles J. Doneghy -inner city youth mentor and support for prostate cancer awareness
Fr. Martin Donnelly -founding chair of Erase the Hate Toledo and Central City Ministries and many other organizations
Hannah’s Socks -founded by a four year old girl, supplied 200,000+ pairs socks to the homeless last year
Jewish Family Service Food Bank -food, supplies and moral support to the needy in the general community
Ken Leslie & Pat Lewandowski,
1Matters – Tent City
-working to change the perception of the homeless
Lifeline Toledo -support for inner city homeless, including mobile medical support
The Ronald McDonald House Charities -provides a free home away from home for families accessing specialized medical care for their children
Martha Pituch, RN,
Cherry St. Mission Clinic
-founded and developed a nursing clinic to provide primary health care for homeless persons
Devorah (Friedrich) Shulamit,
Interfaith Blood Drive
,
-founder of the first interfaith blood drive in the nation, now in its 25th year
Sr. Grace Ellen & Sr. Jeremias,
Sisters of St. Francis of Sylvania Gardens
-developed a nationally recognized four-season polyhouse to provide food for the needy year round
Mike Szuberla, ToledoGROWs -provides support for 150 community gardens and re-entry and proactive programs for at-risk youth
St Paul’s Community Center -daily hot meals, emergency shelter, and other services for the homeless
St. Vincent de Paul Conference -tangible, confidential, no-questions-asked assistance to those in need
Toledo Area Ministries,
Feed Your Neighbor Ministry
-12 food pantries, serve over 80,000 clients per year
Toledo Mountain Mentors -one-on-one mentoring and outdoor experiences for at-risk teens

2013

Joe Balderas Sofia Quintero Art & Cultural Center Community gardens, Latino Arts, CITE Program
Wanda Butts The Josh Project Provides affordable swimming lessons and water safety training to children and their families.
Liz Facey Project 100 intervention program at Central Catholic High School, providing support to students who are academically at risk of failing the normal curriculum
Charlie Johnson CITE Program (Community Integration & Training for Employment) Provides job readiness training, paid work experience and community service activities to youth on probation with Lucas County Juvenile Court.
Sara Mattson Read for Literacy/Creating Young Readers Pre-reading program for preschoolers ages 3-5
Rev Melissa Micham Glenwood Lutheran Church Giving Store Gently used items are offered free of charge
John Shousher John has built better community relations between all Americans, Arabs, Christians and Jews at City, State and National level.
Lisa Strawbridge UU Kids Care Club and Good Night Bags Children of all ages meet weekly to discuss social justice topics. The Club’s primary project is the creation and delivery of emergency overnight Good Night Bags to the American Red Cross and YWCA.

2014

Rep. Teresa Fedor, Human Trafficking Legislation Safe Harbor Act of 2012 and other legislation is making a real difference in the lives of trafficking victims
Janice Grimes, Quilts of Compassion Quilts of Compassion has extended their ministry from local recipients who have suffered loss or illness to victims of disasters nationwide.
Alice Mosiniak, Seagate Foodbank Alice Mosiniak started Toledo Seagate Foodbank in her garage. Incorporated in 1980, it now serves clients and organizations in 18 counties in northwest Ohio, all at no cost to them.
Dr. Anne Ruch, SewHope / Kids Against Hunger SewHope, an organization created to improve public health, nutrition, education, cervical cancer prevention and spiritual development for the people of Peten, Guatemala and Kids Against Hunger – Toledo, which provides nutritious packaged meals to undernourished children and medical assistance to LifeLine Toledo
Yusuf Ali and Melinda Sutton, Masjid Al-Islam For five years Joe (Yusuf Ali) and his wife Melinda Sutton have been preparing and serving meals for the neighborhood people.

2015

Connie Christiansen – St. Baldrick’s Foundation Connie has been a fundraiser for St. Baldrick’s since she was 9 years old. St. Baldrick’s funds research to treat and cure childhood cancer. Its head shaving events also provide locks for wigs for adult cancer patients. Connie has shaved at St. Baldrick’s events 4 times now – raising over $4500 in pledges.
Andra Crisp & Evelyn Johnson – “Good Samaritans” Andra and Evelyn stopped in the middle of a level-3 snow storm to help a stranger who had run into a light pole. Responding to instructions from a 911 call, they broke into the car, pulled the man out and started CPR. The man turned out to be Mayor D. Michael Collins
Dr. Lorna Gonsalves – Creative Peaceful Resistance (CPR)© This program connects specially trained local artists with individuals from marginalized groups to work together to create visual images that reflect the concerns, hopes, and suggestions of these groups. All CPR murals are youth-informed, youth-guided, and youth-approved.
Andy Stepnick – Toledo Bikes! Toledo Bikes! supports all who cycle, whether by choice or necessity, by repurposing discarded bicycles. Toledo Bikes! runs bike repair and build-a-bike classes and provides workshop space with tools, a repair stand, and used parts available.
Trinity Episcopal Church – Blanket Blitzes Since 2004, Trinity Episcopal Church in downtown Toledo has provided warm blankets to shelters, hospitals etc. to literally “Blanket Toledo with Love”.

2016

Lilian Ann Briggs, Promise House Project Promise House an initiative serving homeless and housing insecure youth.
Stephen MacDonald, Bridges Out of Poverty Provides leadership to establish needed infrastructure for eliminating poverty among ethnic, generational, social, and educational areas.
Celina Stevens, 1Matters Going from homelessness to Mayor of Tent City, from F’s to A’s & B’s, all within 12 months, was the result not of Celina taking, but rather her giving. She volunteers with the United Way, 1Matters, and the every Saturday Morning Community Picnic.
Toledo Gospel Rescue Mission Has multiple locations providing multi-faceted compassionate services to those in need. They have a women’s shelter, a men’s shelter, an Outreach Center, Mall, and Mission.
Woody and Judy Trautman, MultiFaith Council of NW Ohio The Trautmans are the founders of the MultiFaith movement in the Toledo area. They provided the Vision and impetus for Toledo to become an official Compassionate City.
Water for Ishmael

 

Water for Ishmael operates The American School for Women and Children which teaches English as a second language to women who come from all parts of the world.

2017

Mosaic Ministries of South Toledo, David & Kelly Kaiser Mosaic Ministries is bringing life to South Toledo by fulfilling the physical and emotional needs of the poorest of poor. They offer a 10-week class called Baby University for parents of young children.
Shane & Lona Lakatos, Social Services for the Arab Community Shane and Lona Lakatos responded to God’s call to build bridges connecting the largest per capita Arab community in Ohio (metro Toledo) with sorely needed resources.
Eugenio Mollo, Immigrant Advocacy Project Eugenio Mollo has been a tireless advocate and lawyer for immigrants and farm workers for years. In recent years, he has been the managing attorney for ABLE’s Immigrant Advocacy Project that is servicing immigrants and refugees.

2018

Dr. M. Y. Ahmed

Dr Mohammad Yousafuddin [MY] Ahmed, MD, FRCS, a semi-retired General and Trauma Surgeon of Toledo, is the founder and supporter of many charitable indigent clinics in townand the the MY and Shahida Ahmed Trauma Symposium,.

Trevor Black

Trevor,a high school teacher at Scott High School, has sponsored many high school students for college readiness, professional development and basic life skills programs, events and opportunities.

Fellowship Matters, Inc.

Since 2008, Fellowship Matters has devoted its energy to passionately advocate for the hungry and needy members of our Northwest Ohio family. The group is at Michigan and Adams Streets in Toledo every Saturday to help children and families in need.

Rita McDougle

Rita McDougle lives in East Toledo and during the summer months hosts a weekly “Art in the Garden” program for neighborhood school children in her own garden.

2019

Nazife Amrou

 

Nazife Amrou is a low key, behind the scenes, community worker. She and her family have long been involved with the MultiFaith Council, helps the needy and immigrant families, has been active in a monthly Christian – Muslim Dialog group.
Islamic Food Bank of Toledo

https://www.ywcanwo.org/aboutus/history/

The Islamic Food Bank of Toledo has been active in combating community hunger since 2008. Every second Saturday of each month a group of volunteers gather in the kitchen of the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, under the leadership of Dr Razi Rafeeq, to prepare 150-200 hot meals.
YWCA of Northwest Ohio

https://www.ywcanwo.org/

The YWCA of Northwest Ohio provides compassionate support for victims of sexual or domestic violence and for teens in a pregnancy prevention program, for women in their supportive housing units, and for underinsured women with breast cancer.
Sr. Ginny Welsh. osf/t

http://tiffinfranciscans.org/us-ministries/padua-centerst-martin-de-porres-parish-of-toledo/

Sr. Ginny Welsh. osf/t has served as Pastoral Leader of a central city parish, St. Martin de Porres. She is involved with the Ministerial Alliance, faithfully directs multiple the Claver kitchen, a food pantry, Black History Month Toledo Symphony concert, and the Padua Center.