Lakewood Man Debuts Film Online

Chris Karel releases documentary teaser about H2O, the student volunteer organization in Lakewood.

Chris Karel didn't initially intend to make a film about the Lakewood student service organization Help to Others. The Lakewood resident agreed to shoot some footage for the 20th anniversary H2O, aimed at raising money for the organization. Then, Karel got into it. The result is a moving documentary called “Drops of Kindness. Ripples of Change” and he’s pitching to PBS and HBO among others.  Karel, the film's writer/director — and a graduate of Virginia Marti College of Art and Design — debuted a 7-minute trailer online on Friday night. Watch the “Drops of Kindness. Ripples of Change” teaser attached at the right “As a former teacher and someone who worked with trouble kids, one of the things I spent a lot of time learning is that the time…

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LOOK: Celebrating 20 Years of Help to Others

Help to Others celebrated 20 years of helping others in Northeast Ohio with a night of fun, festivities and philanthropy at the H2O Tributary Bash on Saturday night.

LOOK: Perfect Day for a ‘Pumpkin Palooza’

Annual event attracts thousands to Lakewood High School on Saturday.

The 13th-annual Pumpkin Palooza event at Lakewood High School brought out thousands of people Saturday. They came for the activities, games, food, entertainment, and you guessed it, pumpkins — dozens of them. Coinciding with Lakewood’s “Make A Difference Day,” the Pumpkin Palooza servedas the culmination of a citywide pumpkin-decorating challenge.

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Helping Out Others at the Westerly

Volunteers — including a dozen from Help to Others — distribute more than 100 bags of food to seniors on Friday.

Volunteers from Help to Others helped to distribute a week’s worth of groceries to 121 senior citizens at the Westerly on Friday. With food provided by the Lakewood Community Services Center, the volunteers passed out an array of food — with items that included milk, canned goods, fresh fruit and popcorn. John Moran, the operations manager for the LCSC, said organization has four food drop-offs at area senior living centers in the city each month.

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Easter Bunny Stops in Lakewood for 'Breakfast'

Breakfast With the Bunny event draws hundreds.

'Breakfast With the Bunny' Event Slated

With Easter right around the corner, “Breakfast with the Bunny," one of Lakewood’s most treasured community events, is coming.

What came first: The Easter Bunny or the Easter Egg? It doesn’t matter. With Easter right around the corner, “Breakfast with the Bunny," one of Lakewood’s most treasured community events, is coming. The event, set for March 31 at the Lakewood Women's Pavilion in Lakewood Park, will feature some syrupy goodness — pancakes, sausage, fruit, juice and coffee — and the Easter Bunny The fundraiser event is presented by the City of Lakewood’s Help to Others (H2O), an active and innovative program that promotes community service among high school and middle school students, and in turn engages them to provide assistance and support at more than 90 community events each year. All dollars raised will go to support H20, specifically to offset the …

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Nature’s Bin Donates School Supplies to H2O

The market recently donated a half-dozen boxes of “green” school supplies to H20.

The Lakewood youth program Help to Others is getting some help from others. In this case, from organic foods market Nature’s Bin. The market recently donated a half-dozen boxes of “green” school supplies to H20, the Lakewood collaboration between the city’s Department of Human Services, Division of Youth and the Lakewood City Schools.  According to a press release, Nature’s Bin donated its remaining stock of school supplies from its back-to-school inventory. The list of donations includes notebooks, paper, graph paper, folders, index cards and journals made from recycled paper and sugar cane plants. Mary Johnson, assistant executive director at Nature’s Bin, said in the statement that the store is pleased to help. “School supplies are a …

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12th Annual Pumpkin Palooza Taking Over Lakewood High

The family-friendly Halloween event is set for Saturday, Oct 29 from 1-4 p.m.

All right, Lakewood, it’s time to grab a gourd and get creative.  The Help to Others (H2O) citywide decorating challenge, better known as Pumpkin Palooza, is right around the corner and scores of Halloween enthusiasts are expected to attend.  For the event, Lakewood High’s east gym will be transformed into the Great Pumpkin Patch and will feature painted, carved and costumed pumpkins that will be raffled off to the public, community relations manager Melissa Garrett said.  Attendees will also enjoy food, live entertainment, carnival games, inflatable playhouses, crafts and a costume parade, she said.  “Every year gets bigger and better,” H2O director Celia Dorsch said.  Hundreds of families are expected to attend and all proceeds will be …

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Snapshot: H2O, Beck Center Each Get $1,000 Donation From Cox

A couple of Lakewood nonprofit institutions got a boost from Cox Communications this week.

A couple of nonprofit organizations in Lakewood got a $1,000 boost this week from Cox Communications. Cox Charities Employee Advisory Grants were presented to the Beck Center for the Arts, nominated by Daniel Carney and Help to Others nominated by Mark Preston.  This year, Cox employees were given an opportunity to nominate organizations in the Cleveland area that support education for $1,000 grants. An advisory group comprised of Cox employees review and rank each of the nominations submitted.  “Our employees personally contribute to Cox Charities and they are proud to use this resource to positively impact our future generations in their own community,” said Paul Cronin, senior vice president and general manager, Cox Communications in a …

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'Clothes 4 Kids' Hoping to Attract Lots of Thrifty Shoppers

With over 20,000 items to choose from, this one-day H2O extravaganza at Lakewood High School will generate thousands of dollars for the popular volunteer organization.

Parents and children have about 20,000 reasons to check out H2O’s (Help to Others) annual Clothes 4 Kids event, set for Saturday. The fundraiser is being held at Lakewood High School’s east cafeteria from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and features gently used clothes and shoes for children who are headed back to school in September, said H2O assistant coordinator Emmie Hutchison. Most of the 20,000 donated items are under a dollar and thrifty shoppers are encouraged to buy as much as they want. Since June, the Lakewood Fire Department has been collecting the items, which will be collected, sorted, priced and put on display by the non-profit’s summer camp counselors and middle school kids. “We see the gamut of shoppers as hundreds of shoppers from the …

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