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Sign up for Thanksgiving meals may pick up packages for two families but they must Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio be signed up separately. Families must sign up is ready to provide 2,300 separately and have their Thanksgiving meals to own registration code. families in Lorain County. Attendees must have that The food will be distributed from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. code visible to enter the distribution line. on Saturday, Nov. 23, at Last year, Second Harvest Lorain County Community saw a 32 percent increase College, 1005 Abbe Road in families seeking help at N. in Elyria. its pantries, Julie ChaseEach Thanksgiving box Morefield, Second Harvest will include shelf-stable president said. food, a 10- to 14-pound They have expanded the turkey, apples, onions, distribution to meet the potatoes, sweet potatoes, increased need, she said. pumpkin pie, stuffing, “Food shouldn’t be out gravy, cranberry sauce, of reach for anyone in our canned pumpkin and corn community, especially a muffin mix, totaling about holiday meal that holds 50 pounds of food. traditions and memories for Home delivery is not available for Thanksgiving families.” Lorain County Comfood packages, but drivers The Community Guide
munity College President Marcia Ballinger said the Thanksgiving mobile pantry is a communitywide effort. “Today is about much more than providing a meal,” Ballinger said. “It’s about a community that comes together to support our friends and neighbors today and every day.” Eligibility is based on income and household size. Proof of income is not required, but registrants will be asked to attest to their income. For example, for a family of four, annual income eligibility is at or below $62,400 per year, or $5,200 per month. To register, visit second FILE PHOTO PROVIDED harvestfoodbank.org or call Second Harvest Food Bank is prepared to feed even more families than it (440) 434-2447. was doing here in 2023 at Lorain County Community College.
Invacare sold, staying in Elyria on our core operations, but also empowers each regional business to focus Invacare has been puron the specific needs of chased by a New Jersey the customers in its dedicompany, but current operations at the company’s cated regions. With MIGA’s established presence and Elyria headquarters will proven history of success in continue. North America, we expect The sale was announced this acquisition to open new by the Invacare Holdings opportunities for growth Corporation and MIGA Holdings LLC, with MIGA and improvement in service acquiring the North Ameri- delivery.” Operations at Invacare in can operations of Invacare. MIGA is itself owned by Elyria will continue under C+A Global, a manufactur- the current leadership of the North American manageing, marketing and retail ment team, with the adcompany based in Edison, ditional support of MIGA New Jersey. CEO Chaim Piekarski, a Invacare is a manufacrepresentative said. turer that primarily builds Invacare has a long and wheelchairs, scooters and storied history in Elyria. other mobility equipment. It originated in 1889 as A representative for the Worthington Company, MIGA confirmed that which manufactured wheeloperations at the Invacare chairs. It became Colson global headquarters in Company after a merger. Elyria would continue as Colson left Elyria in 1952 normal. The companies said they although the wheelchair division, renamed Mobihope the sale would allaid, remained. A few other low Invacare to expand its market share in health care mergers and name changes occurred over the decades mobility. until A. Malachi Mixon, “We are confident that this strategic change will be then a vice president, bought what had become a benefit to both the North known as Invacare in 1979. American and European/ He grew it from a comAsia Pacific businesses of pany with about $19 million Invacare,” said Geoff Purin sales to a public compatill, president and CEO of ny earning $620 million. In Invacare Holdings. “This transaction not only the late 1990s, it had more allows us to concentrate than 4,000 employees. Owen MacMillan The Community Guide
BRUCE BISHOP / COMMUNITY GUIDE
Chase Farris, executive director of Save our Children and a former Ohio State football player, speaks during last week’s Salvation Army kettle kickoff event at Norton Culinary Arts Center at Lorain County Community College.
Kettle campaign kicks off Carissa Woytach The Community Guide
For more than a century, red kettles and bell ringers have been a hallmark of the holiday season. And this year in Lorain County will be no different, with the Salvation Army kicking off its Christmas-time fundraiser at the Norton Culinary Center. Keynote speaker Chase Farris, executive director of Save Our Children and Elyria Catholic High School football coach, said the cause is personal. He and his sister were raised by a single mother on Elyria’s west side. “My mother’s hard work made a
very high impression on me. She would go to work every day, sometimes working two or three shifts,” he said. She bought gifts through layaway at Walmart, Kmart and Finish Line, never letting him or his sister feel the weight she carried. And there were Christmases where the Salvation Army stepped in. He remembered years where they picked up gifts and winter clothes from the Angel Tree program, and he suspected the nonprofit helped pay for rent and utility assistance over the years. “Going through those times, going through those situations and real-
izing whenever she fell short, she leaned on community,” he said. “... it just kind of became a full-circle moment to be able to be one of the kids that received coats, that received shoes.” He fell silent at the podium, his voice heavy with emotion when he spoke again. “I’m just a guest at the luncheon, I’m a testament to the impact the Salvation Army work has done, and what it can be. You’re not just giving gifts of clothing, you’re giving hope and reassurance to families that need it the most,” he said. Also recognized were several See KETTLE, A2
INSIDE THIS WEEK Amherst
Firelands
Oberlin
Kiedrowski’s Bakery turns 40. A3
Levy defeat hurts many townships. A5
County delays vote on annexation. A4
SPORTS A6 • CROSSWORD A7 • SUDOKU A7 • KID SCOOP A8