LOVELAND MAGAZINE

News and Events from the Loveland, Ohio Area

Without fear or favor
Since 2004

Tag: acts of kindness

  • A Loveland Private Donor pays it Forward!

    A Loveland Private Donor pays it Forward!

    by Cassie Mattia

    Loveland, Ohio – The Holiday season is here which means giving back is at its peak here in the Sweetheart of Ohio!

    Recently Editor in Chief David Miller spoke with Loveland’s City Manager David Kennedy and Lisa Craig, the City of Loveland’s Utility Billing Clerk, in which they informed Miller that an anonymous donor settled 28 past due water bills. The total donation was nearly $7,000! Although the donor wanted to remain anonymous, the donor himself asked if we would share this information in hopes that other “copycats might do something similar.” The donor said in an email, “The more people that can help, the better.”

    Kennedy said that in his 36 years of government employment he had never experienced anyone doing something so generous.

    Loveland City Manager Dave Kennedy

    Kennedy told Miller in a phone conversation that Craig worked with the private donor all week to help identify those community members that had been heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “He’s overpaying each account by $100, so each of them are going into the new year with a credit of $100,” Kennedy explained to Miller, “He wanted to remain anonymous, but he thought if there was a way to get the word out, maybe other people would help. It ended up being 28 accounts that he picked to help these people out. The private donor worked hand and hand with Lisa Craig, herself a long-time Loveland resident, and our utility billing clerk to do this. She could not have been more impressed with what this person did.”

    Craig was also very much touched by this anonymous donor’s generosity.

    ‘He was looking for people impacted by the pandemic that were really trying to make the effort to set up payment plans with us,” Craig said, “When he first called he said that he had heard something on the news about someone doing this in another community. He and his wife were inspired to do something for people living in Loveland. They wished to remain anonymous, but was hoping that going public with the story without disclosing his name would inspire someone else to help out.”

    Inspired and want to do your own holiday good deed?!

    Craig told us that all anonymous donations sent to them would be applied to where they felt it would be needed the most! Craig also informed us that anyone who sent a check would remain anonymous.

    So where can you send your anonymous donation?

    “I hate to put out a number, but I know there are people really struggling to make it,” Craig said, “We really don’t want to shut anyone’s water off. Especially this time of year. Any time of year is hard. But this time of year, and with the struggles of twenty-twenty…need I say much more!”  

    Anyone wishing to be a copycat donor can reach out to Lisa Craig at 513-707-1451 or email Lisa Craig at lcraig@lovelandoh.gov. Lisa may be able to take your donation “on-line” with a credit card.

    You may also send a check to City Hall. Please address to “City of Loveland, 120 West Loveland Avenue, Loveland, Ohio, 45140.”

    If you would like to reach out to City Manager Dave Kennedy you can do so by phone at 513-707-1454 or email at dkennedy@lovelandoh.gov.

    City Hall office hours are Mon-Fri 8 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.

  • St. Columban’s Student Council Organizes First “Virtual-Walk-A-Thon!”

    St. Columban’s Student Council Organizes First “Virtual-Walk-A-Thon!”

    Cassie Mattia is a reporter/columnist and Assistant Editor of Loveland Magazine. She lives in Historic Downtown Loveland

    Loveland, Ohio – Over the past several months’ many citizens across Ohio have experienced the effects of COVID-19 and MANY have stepped up to help out those who have been hit the hardest by the pandemic. The former President of St. Columban’s Student Council Paul Laufersweiler and his sister Emily decided they wanted to make a difference by introducing St. Columban’s “Virtual Walk-A-Thon!” Paul will be entering Loveland High School in the Fall and Emily will be a sixth-grade student at St. Columban.

    The President of St. Columban’s Student Council Paul Laufersweiler opening donations and notes from St. Columban families who contributed to the Virtual Walk-A-Thon.

    Every year St. Columban School partners with the Sisters of Mount Notre Dame to raise money for St. Julie School in Uganda. St. Columban’s Student Council, which is supervised by Chad Drinnen, an 8th-grade teacher at St. Columban, organizes fund-raising events throughout the school year in order to meet their ultimate fundraising goal. These events range from both basketball and volleyball tournaments to bake sales to $1 Out-Of-Uniform days to the largest event, the annual Walk-A-Thon.

    Due to COVID-19 the school year was cut short which meant a number of the fundraising events didn’t get to happen including the popular 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament.

    Paul’s mother Stefanie Badders Laufersweiler explained to us just how the idea of the “Virtual-Walk-A-Thon” came about.

    “At dinner one night, we were talking about all the cancellations and when Paul said how disappointed he was that they might not make their fundraising goal this year for St. Julie’s, his little sister Emily said, ‘Why can’t we still do the Walk-A-Thon and just walk in our own neighborhoods?’ Paul loved the idea and so did Mr. Drinnen,” Laufersweiler explained, “Families collected and mailed check donations and also paid by Venmo and in the end, they raised $1,000 that St. Julie School will use for school supplies and other items that will create a better learning experience for their students.”

    Check out the videos below of the Laufersweiler’s fundraising journey!

    Paul introducing the Virtual Walk-A-Thon for St. Columban School!

    Paul announcing the Virtual Walk-A-Thon results!

    This photo was taken when Paul read a speech last November on Veterans Day

    Meet Paul Laufersweiler

    Paul just graduated from eighth grade at St. Columban School and will be attending Loveland High School in the Fall. He has already successfully auditioned to be in the marching and symphonic bands. Paul has two sisters, Emily, who will be a sixth-grader at St. Columban, and Amy who will be a Junior at LHS. Amy is also in LHS’s Show Choir.

    Paul told us he may want to study science in college, however, he also has taken an interest in the art of communication so he may want to study that as well.

    “When I was really little I wanted to be a pizza pilot where I would fly around in a plane and drop-down pizzas to people,” Paul said. We then asked Paul if he would throw the pizzas out of the plane like frisbees and he responded, “Yes, I’ll get a thin crust, real crispy, so they won’t flop around!”

    Here at Loveland Magazine, we are so proud of the younger generation for stepping up and making a difference during these difficult and unknown times! If you have a story about an act of kindness that has occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic feel free to contact us.