Marilyn Gratz, center, and her husband, Randy Gratz, right, of Friends of Lima unload donations for the Our Daily Bread soup kitchen Friday.
Craig Kelly | The Lima News
LIMA — “Wow, you’re from Lima. You must be a gangster.”
That is a reaction that Aaron Poling says he gets from people in surrounding communities when he tells them where he is from. While his hometown may not have a sterling reputation in the eyes of some of outside the community, Poling is hoping that some simple acts of giving back to the community and helping those in need may help to counter that perception of Lima.
To that end, Poling has organized “Friends of Lima,” a group of like-minded area residents who want to help make Lima a better place to live, especially for the underprivileged. One example of this happened Friday when Poling and other members of Friends of Lima made a donation to Our Daily Bread on Central Avenue. The group reached out to the soup kitchen and found it was frequently getting low on items like coffee, sugar, canned fruit and salad dressing. Members then came together to obtain a collection of those items, which were then donated to Our Daily Bread.
“We’re not trying to be a Noon Optimist Club or be gigantic, but we’re trying to be effective with the resources that we have,” Poling said. “We meet once a month, every first Tuesday, at the city building in city council chambers and promote civic pride.”
For Friends of Lima member Randy Gratz, donating to Our Daily Bread is about investing in the people of Lima.
“We just want to help out,” he said. “The emphasis is not trying to give a handout, but a hand up.”
The group has also worked on projects like building blessing boxes in the city, creating a resource for the homeless to be able to find free community meals throughout the week and building wheelchair ramps for veterans with disabilities, among others, but Friends of Lima is focusing heavily on its next big project: helping to make the Lima Memorial Day Parade a reality this year.
“We’re starting out with trying to get students from area schools to come and sing,” Friends of Lima member Marilyn Gratz said. “We’re going to place them in different parts of the parade route to sing the national anthem. We will also have five of the oldest veterans in Lima to be grand marshals. There will be candy and flags handed out, and I think we have several school bands that will be there.”
The parade is scheduled to be held at 10 a.m. May 29. Anyone wanting to learn more about the group or about the parade can call Poling at 419-234-5266.
Reach Craig Kelly at 567-242-0391 or on Twitter @cmkelly419.
