'Paying it forward'
Lead Summary
By
Caitlin Forsha-crforsha@gmail.com
When a client at the Southern Ohio Pregnancy Center is given free diapers, they will find a sticker that reads: "It is by the grace of God that we receive it. It is by the grace of God that we give it away. May you be a blessing to others today."
The young women of the Holtfield Station Coffee Station, much like the workers of the pregnancy center, have embraced this idea, as they have quietly donated thousands of dollars to area individuals and charities over the past six years, including an unexpected recent donation to the SOPC.
SOPC Executive Director Cathy Griffith said that the Holtfield Coffee Station workers recently donated a total of $1,405 to the pregnancy center, giving $755 at the center's annual banquet on April 26 and $650 in a separate donation specifically marked for the center's abstinence education program.
The generosity Holtfield's employees showed to the Pregnancy Center is not unique to the store, as Holtfield Station general manager Rachel Tully said that this tradition of giving has been in place since the coffee shop opened.
"When you get hired here, you become part of a big family," Tully said. "We all care about people. I think that's because this business is family owned and operated.
"Tina started it, and we just decided it was a good thing to do. Now Tina is in a different state, so we hope to carry on the tradition."
"Those girls have given their tips, always, since we opened the store," Andrea Holt, one of the owners of Holtfield Station, said. "Even though we get new employees, it's something that just keeps going on."
Tina Warnock, who managed the Coffee Station since its opening until recently relocating to a different state, said that she and her coworkers have always been "quiet about" their donating.
"We don't want people to feel obligated [to give tips]," Warnock said. "We never wanted that. When it was started, it was because we had the money we could bless people with."
Tully said that the coffee station sponsored two kids to attend KAMP Dovetail this year, and the workers adopt families anonymously each Christmas. Tully said that last Christmas, thanks to the generosity of Holtfield's customers along with some help from the owners, close to $1,000 in tips were spent buying gifts for families in need.
The Holtfield employees have also donated to the Alzheimer's Association, Anna's Army, SATH and other charities. The women's generosity is not limited to charitable organizations, either.
"We don't always give [the tips] to charity," Warnock said. "One of our customers was diagnosed with cancer, and we pooled money out of our tips and bought him food for the week and took him coffee.”
As Connie Huber, abstinence educator at the Southern Ohio Pregnancy Center, is a frequent customer at the Holtfield Coffee Station, Tully and Warnock decided to sponsor a table for the Center's annual banquet, which is their primary fundraiser, along with making the donation to Huber's specific program.
"The girls came ready to give funds," Griffith said. "They had nine or 10 people squeezed into a table for eight."
This year's banquet raised $48,000 for the center, an increase of $12,000 from the previous year's banquet.
The fundraising banquet raises general funds for the Center's operation and the services they provide, which, in addition to the abstinence program, include parenting classes, counseling and education. Griffith said the center was founded in 1991 in response to the growing abortion issue as a means to provide help for unplanned pregnancies. Griffith said the center has "grown to be so much more than that, and God has opened doors we never dreamed of." (For more information on the SOPC and its services, visit www.pregnantnotpregnant.com or www.sopcwecare.com.)[[In-content Ad]]Griffith said that the donations were especially helpful to the program due to an increased need for the center's services. Huber saw 2,194 students during the 2012-13 school year, and the Center, which cared for 920 clients in 2012, has already seen 710 clients in the first seven months of 2013.
Huber goes into classrooms throughout the county as a guest speaker with her "Relationships Under Construction" program, which can be offered in three-, five- or eight-day sessions. She offers different classes for grades six through 12. Huber said the program is "preventative and proactive, not reactive," as its main focus is helping youth establish healthy relationships and to avoid pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, dating violence and other issues. The abstinence program is geared toward "all risky behavior," Huber said, including alcohol, tobacco and drug use as well as sexual behavior.
Huber said that she hopes to eventually broaden the program throughout the community.
"Teen pregnancy is a major problem in Highland County," Griffith said. "We [as a county] were fourth in the state for teen pregnancies. Since starting the program, we are 11th. At least it's dropping and going the way it needs to go."
Huber said that many of the girls working for Holtfield's Coffee Station had participated in the program during high school.
"Rachel had been through the program, and she didn't express to me till recently how much she enjoyed it," Huber said. "Tina always prayed for the program. Rachel would always ask me [while at the coffee station], 'where are you going?' so Tina could pray for me. It showed it meant something to them. It's very energizing to me to have former students like to that, to know you have that support."
Huber said that Warnock surprised her by calling her one day and asking her to pick up an envelope.
"When Tina called and said she had something for us, that particular day, I was as discouraged as I'd been," Huber said. "They are very private, but they wanted to give. When we give in secret, the Lord blesses openly."
Huber said she didn't open the envelope from Warnock, but brought it to the center and gave it to Griffith. The women said Warnock told them they were donating their tips, but they had no idea the gift would be so generous.
Griffith said that their donation was "icing on the cake" after their continued support of the program.
"It is so easy, with what we do, to get disheartened," Huber said. "To have that kind of generosity from the age group that we deal with a lot is amazing.
"The $650 was amazing, but the hope they gave us was priceless. The money is great, but the hope, the encouragement and prayers are every bit as important as money."
The Holtfield staff credits the shop's customers with their generosity over the years, which has allowed their employees to be generous in turn.
"Mark and Dawn Edenfield, John and myself would like to thank the community for the business and for allowing all the girls to be able to 'pay it forward' by being so generous," Holt said. "In addition to the community being generous, we're proud of everyone that works there now and has ever worked there, on both sides, that has received any tips, because they very freely pass it on."
Warnock agreed with Holt, saying that all of the extra change they've set in the coffee cups by the register over the years has allowed them to share an unprecedented amount of donations throughout the community.
"When people give pennies, nickels and dimes, they don't realize how much it adds up," Warnock said. "I'm truly blessed to have been a part of it in some way. We girls in the coffee shop always decided what we needed to do together – it wasn't me telling the girls. They've never once said, 'no, I don't think they need it.' If there's a need, they're always very, very willing to help.
"This is just a collective group of women that want to do more than what they can afford to do. In my daily life, I can't afford to give thousands of dollars. Individually, none of us are able to do that, but we can by the help of the customers, and we have the most amazing customers on the planet."
The young women of the Holtfield Station Coffee Station, much like the workers of the pregnancy center, have embraced this idea, as they have quietly donated thousands of dollars to area individuals and charities over the past six years, including an unexpected recent donation to the SOPC.
SOPC Executive Director Cathy Griffith said that the Holtfield Coffee Station workers recently donated a total of $1,405 to the pregnancy center, giving $755 at the center's annual banquet on April 26 and $650 in a separate donation specifically marked for the center's abstinence education program.
The generosity Holtfield's employees showed to the Pregnancy Center is not unique to the store, as Holtfield Station general manager Rachel Tully said that this tradition of giving has been in place since the coffee shop opened.
"When you get hired here, you become part of a big family," Tully said. "We all care about people. I think that's because this business is family owned and operated.
"Tina started it, and we just decided it was a good thing to do. Now Tina is in a different state, so we hope to carry on the tradition."
"Those girls have given their tips, always, since we opened the store," Andrea Holt, one of the owners of Holtfield Station, said. "Even though we get new employees, it's something that just keeps going on."
Tina Warnock, who managed the Coffee Station since its opening until recently relocating to a different state, said that she and her coworkers have always been "quiet about" their donating.
"We don't want people to feel obligated [to give tips]," Warnock said. "We never wanted that. When it was started, it was because we had the money we could bless people with."
Tully said that the coffee station sponsored two kids to attend KAMP Dovetail this year, and the workers adopt families anonymously each Christmas. Tully said that last Christmas, thanks to the generosity of Holtfield's customers along with some help from the owners, close to $1,000 in tips were spent buying gifts for families in need.
The Holtfield employees have also donated to the Alzheimer's Association, Anna's Army, SATH and other charities. The women's generosity is not limited to charitable organizations, either.
"We don't always give [the tips] to charity," Warnock said. "One of our customers was diagnosed with cancer, and we pooled money out of our tips and bought him food for the week and took him coffee.”
As Connie Huber, abstinence educator at the Southern Ohio Pregnancy Center, is a frequent customer at the Holtfield Coffee Station, Tully and Warnock decided to sponsor a table for the Center's annual banquet, which is their primary fundraiser, along with making the donation to Huber's specific program.
"The girls came ready to give funds," Griffith said. "They had nine or 10 people squeezed into a table for eight."
This year's banquet raised $48,000 for the center, an increase of $12,000 from the previous year's banquet.
The fundraising banquet raises general funds for the Center's operation and the services they provide, which, in addition to the abstinence program, include parenting classes, counseling and education. Griffith said the center was founded in 1991 in response to the growing abortion issue as a means to provide help for unplanned pregnancies. Griffith said the center has "grown to be so much more than that, and God has opened doors we never dreamed of." (For more information on the SOPC and its services, visit www.pregnantnotpregnant.com or www.sopcwecare.com.)[[In-content Ad]]Griffith said that the donations were especially helpful to the program due to an increased need for the center's services. Huber saw 2,194 students during the 2012-13 school year, and the Center, which cared for 920 clients in 2012, has already seen 710 clients in the first seven months of 2013.
Huber goes into classrooms throughout the county as a guest speaker with her "Relationships Under Construction" program, which can be offered in three-, five- or eight-day sessions. She offers different classes for grades six through 12. Huber said the program is "preventative and proactive, not reactive," as its main focus is helping youth establish healthy relationships and to avoid pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, dating violence and other issues. The abstinence program is geared toward "all risky behavior," Huber said, including alcohol, tobacco and drug use as well as sexual behavior.
Huber said that she hopes to eventually broaden the program throughout the community.
"Teen pregnancy is a major problem in Highland County," Griffith said. "We [as a county] were fourth in the state for teen pregnancies. Since starting the program, we are 11th. At least it's dropping and going the way it needs to go."
Huber said that many of the girls working for Holtfield's Coffee Station had participated in the program during high school.
"Rachel had been through the program, and she didn't express to me till recently how much she enjoyed it," Huber said. "Tina always prayed for the program. Rachel would always ask me [while at the coffee station], 'where are you going?' so Tina could pray for me. It showed it meant something to them. It's very energizing to me to have former students like to that, to know you have that support."
Huber said that Warnock surprised her by calling her one day and asking her to pick up an envelope.
"When Tina called and said she had something for us, that particular day, I was as discouraged as I'd been," Huber said. "They are very private, but they wanted to give. When we give in secret, the Lord blesses openly."
Huber said she didn't open the envelope from Warnock, but brought it to the center and gave it to Griffith. The women said Warnock told them they were donating their tips, but they had no idea the gift would be so generous.
Griffith said that their donation was "icing on the cake" after their continued support of the program.
"It is so easy, with what we do, to get disheartened," Huber said. "To have that kind of generosity from the age group that we deal with a lot is amazing.
"The $650 was amazing, but the hope they gave us was priceless. The money is great, but the hope, the encouragement and prayers are every bit as important as money."
The Holtfield staff credits the shop's customers with their generosity over the years, which has allowed their employees to be generous in turn.
"Mark and Dawn Edenfield, John and myself would like to thank the community for the business and for allowing all the girls to be able to 'pay it forward' by being so generous," Holt said. "In addition to the community being generous, we're proud of everyone that works there now and has ever worked there, on both sides, that has received any tips, because they very freely pass it on."
Warnock agreed with Holt, saying that all of the extra change they've set in the coffee cups by the register over the years has allowed them to share an unprecedented amount of donations throughout the community.
"When people give pennies, nickels and dimes, they don't realize how much it adds up," Warnock said. "I'm truly blessed to have been a part of it in some way. We girls in the coffee shop always decided what we needed to do together – it wasn't me telling the girls. They've never once said, 'no, I don't think they need it.' If there's a need, they're always very, very willing to help.
"This is just a collective group of women that want to do more than what they can afford to do. In my daily life, I can't afford to give thousands of dollars. Individually, none of us are able to do that, but we can by the help of the customers, and we have the most amazing customers on the planet."