Clermont 20/20, Inc.
 
 
eVisions   December 11, 2008
In this Edition... 
  • Christmas Card
  • A Wonderful 2008 Holiday Homecoming!
  • Jesse Lee Smith Remembered
  • Happy Birthday
  • Salute to Leaders Nominations Deadline Jan 16, 2009
  • Clermont 20/20 Clean and Green Dates for 2009!
  • Save the Date - Leadership Day 2009
  • Join the Leadership Book Club
  • Looking for "Look to Clermont" Graduates
  • Clean and Green Program Receives Regional Recognition
  • Clermont 20/20 Takes it to the Hoops for Scholarships
  • Alumni News & Events
    • Chuck Fink, LEAD Clermont Class of 2007
  • Leadership Moments
    • You Can't Take Trust for Granted
    • Change Follows You
    • Deep Conviction
  • Philanthropy Corner
    • Critical needs alert: Heat or eat?
  • Community Events
    • Give a Child Hope For a Brighter Tomorrow
    • Wall of Worth
    • Free tax preparation services
    • Children's Buy-In (CBI) program

If you know of others in Clermont County who may benefit from this information, please forward this message to them. Use the "Forward email" link near the bottom.

Christmas Card

Clermont 20/20, Inc.
Wayne, Terri, Nancy, Becky, Karen, Frankie & Andy
 
GREAT IDEA!! When doing your Christmas cards this year, take one card and send it to this address. If we pass this on and everyone sends one card, think of how many cards these wonderful special people who have sacrificed so much would get.

When you are making out your Christmas card list this year,
please include the following:

A Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20307-5001
A Wondeful 2008 Holiday Homecoming!

 

 
  
 
Jesse did a lot for Clermont 20/20
Jesse Lee Smith, 90, of Hamersville, Ohio, died Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008 at Hospice of Cincinnati in Anderson Township.

Jesse was a retired Civil Engineer and a founding partner of McGill and Smith, our landlord for so many years at the historical home on West Main Street, in Amelia.

Mr. Smith was also active in the community. He served on the Board of Directors for The First Clermont Bank and also later when it became Park National Bank. He served on the Board of Directors of Chatfield College and was named Pacesetter of the Year by The Clermont Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Smith is survived by one daughter, Kathi Gee and husband Jon of Hamersville, Ohio; two sons - Randy Smith and wife Diana of Ripley, Ohio and Steve Smith and wife Glenna of Hamersville, Ohio; seven grandchildren; four great grandchildren; and one sister, Hazel Newton of Loveland, Ohio.

Funeral services were December 8, 2008 at The Hamersville Church of Christ. If desired, memorial contributions may be made to: The Hamersville Church of Christ, 203 E. Main Street, Hamersville, Ohio 45130.
Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday to these
Clermont 20/20 friends!

December 27
Dan Schneider
Academic Director, UC Clermont College

Please click on the link below and enter your birthday for us. Frankie is creating a birthday calendar for Clermont 20/20. Don't worry, it'll take less than a minute (and you don't have to enter your year of birth).


Call for Nominations: Annual Salute to Leaders Awards
Salute to Leaders Award Banquet
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Holiday Inn Eastgate 5:30 p.m.
 
Nominations must be received in our office no later than January 16, 2009.
 
Nominate local heroes and leaders in the Clermont County area.
 
Clermont 20/20, Inc. is calling for nominations for the annual Salute to Leaders Awards Ceremony. Each year this event recognizes individuals and organization from area townships along with ten category winners for their contributions to their communities and the county.
 
Nominations can be done online at www.clermont2020.org  inside the big yellow box!
Clermont 20/20 Clean and Green Dates for 2009
 
Help Keep Clermont County Clean and Green!
Save the following Clermont 20/20
Clean and Green Dates for 2009!
 
Clean and Green Spring Litter Pickup
Saturday, April 18th
9am - Noon  *Free T-shirts and refreshments!
 
Eastfork River Sweep
Saturday, April 25th - 9am - Noon
 
Ohio River Sweep
Saturday, June 20th
9am - Noon  *Free T-shirts and refreshments!
 
Make a Difference Day
October Date to be determined!    9am - Noon
 
Computer Recycling Events w/Cincinnati Computer Cooperative - Sites, dates and times to be determined
 
Please contact Becky Ploucha at cleanandgreen@clermont2020.org or 513-753-9222 for more information.
Save the Date! - Leadership Day 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
 
Leadership Book Club
Do you have The Encore Effect?  Would you like to?
 
The Leadership Book Club has evolved from an activity from last year's Quality of Life Day from LEAD Clermont 2008 into a viable, positive way for all Clermont 20/20 alumni and current class members to improve ourselves by reading books that can have a beneficial impact in our personal and professional lives.
 
We are pleased to announce our selection for our next book club meeting. The Encore Effect by Mark Sanborn.  This is a wonderful book that teaches you ways to achieve a remarkable performance in anything you do.
 
We will be meeting at 8:00 AM on January 7 at Borders Eastgate and it is open to anyone who would like to participate. Please contact Brad Toft at 513-936-1218 or email at btoft@ekinker.com to RSVP or to ask any questions regarding Leadership Book Club.
Looking for "Look to Clermont" Graduates
 
Did you graduate from the Look to Clermont Youth Leadership program sponsored by Clermont 20/20, or do you know someone who did?  If so, we would like to hear from you and/or them.  Once you graduated from high school, you headed out to higher education, got a job or just moved out of the area.  We want to know if the Look to Clermont program has been beneficial to you and what you are doing today. So, if or someone you know graduated from Look to Clermont, please contact Wayne Baughman, Director, Leadership Development at leadership@clermont2020.org  or call 513-753-9222 and let us hear from you.
Clean and Green Program Receives Regional Recognition
The Clermont 20/20 Clean and Green Program was honored with a second place Mini Project Award at the annual Keep Cincinnati Beautiful Clean and Beautiful Awards Banquet and "Just Desserts" event.

The Clean and Green Program received recognition for a job well done facilitating the Clean and Green Spring Litter Pickup and Computer Recycling Event.  "It is exciting to receive regional recognition for the great job that our community captains and volunteers do in Clermont County.  Our partnership with Cincinnati Computer Cooperative continues to provide recycling opportunities that businesses and residents in Clermont County would not have otherwise." stated Becky Ploucha, Clermont 20/20 Clean and Green Program Director. Paul Braasch, Director of Environmental Quality in Clermont County added "It is great to see the Clean and Green Program get recognition for their efforts.  Clean and Green is an outstanding community asset in getting citizens involved in environmental issues."
 
The Clermont 20/20 Clean and Green Program receives funding from the Adams-Clermont Solid Waste District in addition to grants and corporate donations.
Clermont 20/20 Takes It To The Hoops for Scholarships
 
On October 30th Clermont 20/20, Inc. hosted their third annual scholarship fundraiser to benefit the Last Dollar Grant Scholarship Fund.  The Harlem Ambassadors, a show basketball team, teamed up with Clermont 20/20 to raise money for the scholarship fund by putting on a great game as they went up against the Clermont Crushers at Glen Este High School. This year, the event raised $18,000 for the Last Dollar Grants. Major and corporate event sponsorships by Miller Valentine Group, Duke Energy, Midland Company and Kinker-Eveleigh Insurance Group contributed to the success of this year's event.

Clermont 20/20's college access program, Clermont Educational Opportunities, serves seven schools throughout the county.  College access advisors are placed within the high schools and work with students, many of whom are low-income or first in their family to attend college, to encourage and advise them and their families on all of the post-secondary opportunities available to them and help them navigate their way through the admissions and financial aid process.  Each spring, Clermont 20/20 awards Last Dollar Grants to graduating seniors at each of the participating high schools who have not only displayed a desire to go on to higher education but who also exhibit a financial need to meet the costs associated with attending college.  Last year, Clermont 20/20, Inc. awarded 18 scholarships to area students. 

Currently, Clermont Educational Opportunities serves the West Clermont, Batavia, Goshen, Williamsburg and CNE schools districts, as well as the Live Oaks Career Campus.  For more information about the college access program contact Nancy Hall, Director, at 513-753-9222 or email her at ceop@clermont2020.org.
Alumni News & Events
 
Chuck Fink, LEAD Clermont Class of 2007 and his wife, Cindy, will be moving to Asheville, NC on January 2nd.  Chuck will start a new business, Ascent Leadership, with David Carr, from Camp Joy.  David is also moving to Asheville in early 2009.  Ascent Leadership is a Teambuilding and Leadership training center located in the Grove Park Inn in Asheville. The web site for Ascent Leadership is www.ascentleadership.com. Chuck says "so long" to the many wonderful people of Clermont County with whom he has been associated. His new contact information effective 1/2/09 is Chuck Fink, Ascent Leadership, 5 Stuart Circle, Asheville, NC  28804, 513-324-6279 chuck@ascentleadership.com, Charlesfink1@gmail.com.
 
As a graduate from a Clermont 20/20, Inc. leadership program,
if you have an announcement you would like to share
please send your information to officemgr@clermont2020.org
This effort is brought to you by the LEAD Class of 2008.
 
Philanthropy Corner from The Greater Cincinnati Foundation
by Julia Mace
Critical needs alert: Heat or eat?
 
GCF commits grant money; calls for aid to support basic needs. Due to the economic crisis and increasing costs, local families are facing a "heat or eat" dilemma. At the same time, area nonprofits are reporting a significant rise in demand for basic services while bracing for a decrease in donations. The Greater Cincinnati Foundation has allocated $236,000 for emergency food, heat, rent and utility assistance. Grants have been made to food pantries and other nonprofits that provide these emergency services all across GCF's eight-county region.
Clermont nonprofits receiving grants include: YWCA of Greater Cincinnati - Eastern Area Food Pantry Clermont County Community Services
 
GCF has established the Heat and Eat Fund, which will accept contributions to help support our community's most vulnerable individuals. Learn more about the grants and donate directly to the Fund by visiting
 
 
To learn more about GCF or the Clermont Community Fund of GCF, please contact Joe Saylor at (513) 241-2880.
Leadership Moments
 
You Can't Take Trust for Granted

What does trust look like? Trust is openness. Trust is valuing other people such that you respect their opinions and perspectives. You listen to them. Trust means moving outside your comfort zone and letting go of always having it your way or the way it has 'always been done before.' Trust requires honesty with oneself as well as with others.  Trust means not making commitments you can't keep; it requires not overpromising no matter how much you wish you could do something. Trust requires a willingness to let other take charge, and to let others, at times, make mistakes in doing things they have never done before. For leaders, trust is the willingness to be vulnerable and open to others even when doing so may risk real harm (Like people falling on top of you!)  Trust is relying on others, having confidence in others, and this can be difficult for the best of us, but especially for leaders.

Reference:  Kouzes, J.M., & Posner, B.Z., (2006, p. 74-75). A Leader's Legacy.  San Francisco:  Jossey-Bass.

 
Change Follows You

Change isn't something that happens here and there. No matter where you go, there it is - and no wonder. Life is a complex interaction of millions of factors, all connected to each other. If any one thing changes, so do all the interactions, sometimes in imperceptible ways. You live in a world where everything is changing.  It's not that change stalks you. Instead, since change is everywhere, it is already where you are heading.
 
Reference:  Yaverbaum, E. & Sherman, E. (2008, p. 194-195). The everything leadership book: 2nd edition.  Avon, MA: Adamsmedia.

Deep Conviction

Perhaps the most distinctive mark of leaders is their conviction. They believe wholeheartedly in what they're doing, but that alone is not enough.  If you have deep conviction but never show it, you cannot lead others.  Leaders demonstrate their conviction.  They talk about what they want to achieve and they reveal their emotional involvement in it by showing their excitement, their impatience, and their determination. None the less, aspiring leaders frequently confuse conviction with never changing their minds.  They think that they have to have an answer for everything and make an instant decision.  Leaders do change their mind, but once they commit to a decision, they put their conviction on the line.
 
Reference:  Taffinder, P. (2006, p. 13-14).  The leadership crash course: how to create personal leadership value. 2nd ed.  Philadelphia:  Kogan Page.

Community Events
 
Give a Child Hope For a Brighter Tomorrow
 
KFCC (Keeping Families Connected Committee); the foster care/case worker committee that works to build funds in order to assist foster children, foster families and birth families with issues and items that would not normally be covered by federal and state funding is having a fundraiser. 
 
Please try and take a break from the holiday shopping, join a friend for lunch or dinner (or a beverage), hold your office/agency meal at the restaurant on this day!  Any little bit will assist the KFCC, the children and families!

 
James Sauls Homeless Shelter
Clermont Community Services, Inc.
"WALL OF WORTH"
 
You can contribute to the cost of the new James Sauls Homeless Shelter by sponsoring a tile to be displayed in the entrance of the new shelter with your name or expression on it.  Your donation is tax deductible. The tiles will be sold for $50.00 each.  The money raised will go directly to pay off the principle of the loan incurred with the new shelter. Thank you for your support to the agency and to the citizens we serve. Contact: Billie Kuntz, Clermont Community Services, Inc. 3003 Hospital Drive, Batavia, Ohio 45103.
 
Earned Income Tax Credit
 
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) campaign and free tax preparation services. These services are being provided free to hard working individuals and families who earn low to moderate incomes. The services will be provided for free throughout our region (including Butler, Hamilton and Clermont counties in Ohio and Boone, Campbell, Kenton and Grant counties in Kentucky.) Claim your Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), have your return prepared and e-filed for FREE. Visit a Free Tax Prep Site. Call 2-1-1 to find the location nearest you. Ask for Free Tax Prep.
 
Do you qualify for the EITC?
No Children: Income maximum is less than $12,880 (S, HH, QW) or $15,880 (MJ); credit maximum is $438
One Child: Income maximum is less than $33,995 (S,HH, QW) or $36,995 (MJ); credit maximum is $2,917
Two Children: Income maximum is less than $38,646 (S, HH, QW) or $41,646 (MJ); credit maximum is $4,824
 
Investment income must be $2,950 or less for 2008.
 
Spread the Word to Eligible Families
 
Anything you can do to spread the word to eligible families would be greatly appreciated. The Ohio Dept. of Job and Family Services began the Children's Buy-In (CBI) program in April. CBI was expected to cover 5,000 kids with special health needs whose working parents were struggling to cover their health care costs. So far, only two children have successfully been enrolled. Part of this is due to the eligibility requirements and the other is simply because families aren't aware of the program. CBI targets working families with income ABOVE $42,000 per year. To date, 90 percent of those who have applied have actually been under income.
 
Here is the link to the CBI Web site: http://jfs.ohio.gov/OHP/cbi/index.stm. Families can only apply online. Feel free to add this link to your Web site or in any newsletters/mailings you may send to families and providers working with children. Since CareSource will be the providing access to the services, a marketing brochure is available that includes income requirements, covered services and associated costs. If you have any questions or would like to request a presentation for your organization, please contact  Toni Bigby, Consumer Advocacy Director, CareSource Management Group, 65 E. State Street, 8th Floor, Columbus, Ohio 43215, (614) 255-4673, Toni.Bigby@csmg-online.com, www.csmg-online.com.
 
 
 
Contact Information
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