project promise past work

A little over a decade ago, the City of Ravenna was given a beam from the World Trade Center. It has remained in storage, and without a home for this entire time.  Project Promise teamed up with the Ravenna Fire Department in raising funds to help erect a memorial featuring this beam.  Over the course of a year, Project Promise worked diligently to help raise funds for this project by contacting local donors, and establishing donation boxes in local businesses, in addition to securing a discounted construction price with a construction contractor. On September 11, 2022, Project Promise helped unveil this memorial to the community, standing alongside the Ravenna Fire Department.  Project Promise is proud of our role in securing a space that gives our heroes the respect and dignity they deserve. We were honored to help secure the funds to  make this memorial project a reality.  

Human Trafficking is an epidemic that unfortunately permeates every pocket of our nation. Taking steps to prevent it from spreading to Portage County was a priority Project Promise took seriously from day one. In October 2022, Project Promise hosted a community townhall event to help raise awareness on Human Trafficking. Our goal was to educate the community on the issue, and inform them of steps they can take to identify and prevent human trafficking from becoming a problem in their local communities. We hosted a panel of experts in the field and opened up our event to the community to attend. We were humbled to receive a substantial turnout and feel proud to take part in the effort to eradicate Human Trafficking from permeating our communities. 

For the past two years, we have been honored to work alongside The Salvation Army food pantries in providing groceries for families and individuals in need. Project Promise has on occasion delivered grocery and personal care items to housebound residents. Volunteers are desperately needed to continue this effort. If you are interested in helping with this effort, please contact us.

One of the best ways for us to give back to our community is to help keep its parks, roadways, alleyways, and business sidewalks free of litter and debris. Whether working alongside such organizations as Main Street Ravenna or on our own, Project Promise has taken to the streets on numerous occasions to landscape and clean up litter as part of our mission to restore promise in our community by making a corner of Portage County better than when we found it. 

Project Promise believes that the hallmark of a healthy republic is  elections citizens can trust. Unfortunately in recent years, many citizens in our great country have lost faith in the integrity of our election system. In February 2022, Project Promise hosted a townhall with various professionals who work in the field of elections to discuss more about the topic of election integrity. These professionals specifically spoke about the current status of Ohio's elections, and shared different avenues citizens can utilize to participate in our electoral process. 

September 11, 2001 will always be a day seared into our minds. Many of us can still recall the exact moment we learned about the tragic events that were unfolding at the Twin Towers, Flight 93, and the Pentagon. In September 2022,  it will be 21 years since that horrific day where more than 3,000 innocent lives were lost. Project Promise believes that it is our sacred obligation to honor those who lost their lives, and their families who continue to persevere in life after their devastating loss. 

Around ten years ago, the City of Ravenna was given a beam from the World Trade Center. It has remained in storage, and without a home for this entire time. Project Promise have been asked to help raise funds to erect a memorial featuring this beam.Not only will this memorial serve as a tribute to those who lost their lives on September 11,  but will also serve as a remembrance to all in the Ravenna Fire Department who heroically made the ultimate sacrifice in keeping our community safe. 

Join Project Promise in giving all our heroes the respect and dignity they deserve. We are raising funds to help make this memorial project a reality. We have solicited numerous area businesses and continue to make great strides in achieving our monetary goal. 

If you would like to make a donation, or would like more information on this project, please email us at portageprojectpromise@gmail.com. 

On Saturday August 11, Project Promise and the Women's Club delivered a grand total of 124 backpacks to the Skeels Matthews Community Center in Ravenna, right in time for the annual back to school bash the following day at the King Kennedy Community Center. The results of this drive exceeded the expectations of everyone involved, from community center leaders to members of both organizations. The amount of backpacks available at the back-to-school bash for high school students this year far exceeded the number available in years past, avoiding the annual issue of backpack scarcity for high school aged students. 

The road to this proud moment was a long one, that required extensive work on behalf of both organizations beginning in mid-July. Much of our efforts included establishing backpack drop-off points throughout Ravenna,  visiting local businesses to request support, marketing on social media and local press, in addition to printing and attaching tags to all backpacks giving credit to each and every donor. This was truly an all hands on deck collaborative effort that required much time and talent from all organizers involved. 

Project Promise and the Women's Club would like to thank everyone that helped make this success possible; including the Skeels & Matthews and King Kennedy Community centers, the Bennett Land Title Agency, the West Main Winery, the Phillips Insurance Agency, the City Gardner & Florist, in addition to all community members who donated to this drive. 

Project Promise cherishes the opportunity to visit different corners of Portage County to meet families of all walks of life, and share with them a little about our organization, and our mission to reignite promise in our community. To make this possible, our organization participates in numerous fairs and festivals throughout the year. At these fairs and festivals, we share with others information about Project Promise, and invite them to join us in upcoming events that may interest them. We also engage children with educational games where they can win fun prizes. The enthusiasm and interest we receive from parents is inspiring, and the joy children experience from our games is heartwarming. Project Promise looks forward to continuing our engagement with families across Portage County in the coming year.