The most important work that we are doing is giving back to our community through various community service activities. We have taken to heart President Obama's belief that, "there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character than giving our all to a difficult task."

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Community Meal 2
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Coming Events

September 11, 2010
4:30 PM

Rubber Duck Regatta 2010

Over 10,000 rubber ducks will be dropped into the Merrimack River from the Basiliere Bridge (Main Street, Rt. 125) in Haverhill in support of Haverhill's Charities.

To join in the fun and for a chance to win a 2010 Toyota Yaris, please go to adoptaducktoday.com or call 978-374-5223.


September 14, 2010
7:00 AM - 8:00 PM

Primary Elections 2010

For information about who's running on the Democratic Ticket in Massachusetts and ballot questions, please go to our Elections page. Please see Democratic Party Cumulative Filings if your are from New Hampshire.

"History suggests that unless a progressive president is able to mobilize widespread support for significant change in the country at large, it's not enough to have a congressional majority." -- Doris K. Goodwin
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May 8, 2010 (7:00 AM to 2:00 PM)

GHO members along with church groups and other caring citizens decided to help those who are less fortunate than us. Volunteers helped out at the Haverhill Helps the Homeless event at the Good Shepherd United Methodist Church by serving food, preparing tables, selling items, collecting donations, etc. We also donated household items for the Free Market along with nonperishable canned or boxed food items and food gift certificates for the homeless. Unfortunately, the weather did not participate with the whole-day event and much of the activity had to be moved indoors, with the evening campfire being cancelled altogether. (Pictures)

Here is the schedule of events:

1. Pancake Breakfast: 8:00 - 11:00 AM
2. Free Market: 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM
3. BBQ Burgers and Dogs: 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
4. Homelessness Info Fair: 12:00 - 3:00 PM
5. Spaghetti and Meatball Supper: 5:00 - 7:00 PM

Sponsoring Groups: Greater Lowell Area for Obama; Haverhill for Obama (MA); Merrimack Valley For Barack Obama; Plaistow, NH for Obama; and Salem, NH for Obama


April was DONATE TO EMMAUS MOHTH!

During the month of April, Emmaus had the opportunity to receive matching gift funds from the Feinstein Foundation. For the 13th year, this Foundation has been dividing one million dollars amongst agencies fighting hunger throughout the U.S.A.

Last year, Emmaus Programs served more than 80,000 meals!

We were asked to help Emmaus gain a share of the Feinstein million by making a special "Feinstein Challenge" donation. In-kind donations of food also counted and were to be matched at a rate of $1.00 per can or food packet.

January 16, 2010 (1:00 PM to 5:30 PM)

The members of GHO prepared and served a community meal in the basement dining room of the Universalist Unitarian Church of Haverhill in honor of Martin Luther King Day. Members cooked, set tables, and served meals to people who depend on the generosity of those of us who are blessed with roofs over our heads and regular warm meals whenever we need them.

Because of the Martha Coakley Rally, less people participated than usual (and many of us left early); but the spirit amongst those who were there was not any less enthousiastic.

On the menu were lasagna and salad (prepared by Bill, Demet, Lisa, and Mary), buttered bread, various beverages, brownies (baked by Eva), and Oreo cookies (donated by Roz).

Non-members also came to help as did Doug Edison, who took time off from campaigning for Martha Coakley. (pictures coming soon.)

Location:
     Universalist Unitarian Church (Haverhill, MA)
     16 Ashland St.
     Haverhill, MA 01830


December 19, 2009

Once more we decided to help our neighbors in cooperation with Organizing for America's (OFA) Weekend of Service. This time, we decided to donate food to the Calvary Baptist Church Food Pantry. As you know, our group is not affiliated with any religious institution; but we are dedicated to helping a different charitable nonprofit organization every month as a service to our larger community.

The staff at the Calvary Food Pantry was very happy to hear about our plan to help them and indicated that they are always in great need of several food items including the following list of priorities:
1. Cereals
2. Boxes of macaroni and cheese and different varieties of pasta
3. Canned spaghetti sauce
4. Canned soup, vegetables and fruits.

Calvary Baptist Church Food Pantry is a food resource serving the homeless and needy families in the Greater Haverhill community. Sionce November, 1993, the Pantry has been providing food to everyone needing assistance including families and individuals of local agencies such as the Salvation Army, Community Action, The Pregnancy Care Center, and Project Bread in Boston. To date, Calvary Church Food Pantry has assisted over 1400 families. As you can well imagine, the needs for the pantry has been on the rise especially since the onset of the extraordinary recession that began last year.

November 21, 2009

To celebrate Thanksgiving and to help those of our neighbors who are less fortunate than us, we decided to hold an Emmaus House Thanksgiving Food Drive. The need is always great, but gifts of non-perishable food items are especially welcome during this time of the year.

We delivered our food items to Emmaus House Family Shelter, located at 150 How Street, from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The event was quite successful as many of our organization's members decided to participate in this worthy endeavor.

Here is the Emmaus Wish List of non-perishable foods that are always most welcome:
October 24, 2009

Make a Difference Day -- Bloomfest, 2009: We decided to join Brightside, Haverhill in planting 3500 daffodil bulbs in front of Haverhill Stadium. Brightside was recently reorganized and is now headed by our very own Doug Edison. Congratulations to Doug, the Board of Directors, and the entire new team at Brightside for their efforts to revitalize this important volunteer organization that works for the beautification of Haverhill. We look forward to working with them on future projects.

A number of our members were present in the rain and mud. We dug holes, sprinkled fertilizer, layed down bulbs (five to a hole), and filled up the holes with earth. By the end, we were all wet and rather muddy. The payoff, of course, will be the beautiful daffodils that will populate the area in front of Haverhill Stadium. What a sight it will be! (Please click here for pictures.)

September 12, 2009

National Service Day was September 11th. Inasmuch as most of our members are fortunately employed, we decided to postpone our volunteer event to Saturday, September 12. Many of us participated in another donation drive to help out the needy who rely on Ruth's House. According to volunteers at Ruth's House, once more our group shined and our event was a great success. However, they still need, and would greatly appreciate, donations of clothing and household items like the following: * Unfortunately, they cannot accept large appliances, air conditioners, computers, VCR's, televisions, exercise equipment, sporting goods, infant and toddler car seats.

June 20, 2009

We had lots of fun in preparing and serving a community meal in the basement dining room of the Universalist Unitatrian Church of Haverhill. We set tables, prepared (at Demet's house), heated, and served the food to 33 people.

We arrived between 3:00 and 3:15, and everything was ready (food was heated, tables were set, coffee and lemonade was made, and dessert preparations had begun) by 4:00 PM when we opened the door to those less fortunate than us.

On the menu was broccolli quiche, served with rice, corn, and bread and brownies a-la-mode with whipped cream. Thanks to all those who did the cooking, there was plenty for even seconds. All of us who worked also had the opportunity to taste the food. The verdict? D E L I C I O U S!

By 5:00 PM all the people had been fed and the kitchen was all cleaned up. Thanks goes to everyone who showed up to work. Please click here to see the pictures.

May 31, 2009

This month we celebrated Memorial Day by doing something for the veterans who have served us so well. Doug got in contact with John Ratka, Executive Director, Veterans Northeast Outreach Center to find out what we could do to help. This nonprofit institution has been serving area veterans since 1985. They provide a food bank, counseling, and housing for the homeless. It is truly a fine organization deserving our help.

What they really needed was to have their garage painted. So, a number of us did just that. We scraped and painted and did a terriffic job, as you can judge by the great pictures that were taken by Pam (Eva was in Poland). Each of us also brought some canned goods (especially peas, carrots and corn) as a donation to the Veterans Outreach Center to the site and stayed to help until the job was completed. Others who could not work were encouraged to drop by with some canned goods. Please click here to see the pictures

May 9, 2009

Volunteers were urgently needed at the Salvation Army in Haverhill

          395 Main Street
                  Haverhill, MA

from 3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. to assist with the letter carriers food drive--sorting donated food for each pantry program in Haverhill. This event was sponsored by Community Action, Inc., an organization that operates the Haverhill Drop-In Center for homeless individuals. The organization provides people in need with breakfrast, lunch, advocacy and a warm place.  It also operates the Amesbury Center--a micro center that serves families needing food, assistance with rent, mortgage, and utilities.

Please contact Elaine Miller (978-373-1971), Director, if you have any questions.

April 25 & 26, 2009

In our February meeting, we agreed that our April community service event will be some sort of involvement in Earth Day Activities. Thus, we had a number of activities that we participated in.

April 26, 2009 -- EARTH DAY COMMUNITY SERVICE EVENT
sponsored by GHO & the Winnekeni Association

As a result of some hard work on the part of two of our members, Sheli Newman and Susan Kane, we had a chance to participate in a Clean-Up Event at Winnekini Castle on April 26th from 9 am to 12 pm followed by a "Green Summit," a round table discussion of what is happening in Haverhill in the areas of conservation and green efforts, from 12:30 to 2:00 PM. Please check our April Meetings page for more details

City Clean-up and Greater Haverhill Rebuilding Together

Mayor Fiorentini informed us that the annual City Clean-up will be held on April 25th and Lynn Murphy of Greater Haverhill Rebuilding Together told us that their organization is also looking for volunteers. Please go to their Web site if you are interested in helping.

March 14, 2009

At our meeting on February 28, we all decided that our Community Service activity for the month of March will be a donation drive to benefit Ruth's House. We donated clothing and household items. Unfortuantely, the want is still huge. The following items continue to be needed and would be greatly appreciated: