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As we move ever closer to celebrating the 50th anniversary of Christian Children’s Home of Ohio (CCHO) in 2019, we wanted to take some time to look back on our agency’s long and storied past, an incredibly fruitful history that would not be possible without God’s guidance and blessings at every step. To do that right, not only did we need to praise the Creator who has made everything possible during CCHO’s existence, we also needed to honor the men and women who have invested their lives in our family of ministries.

And so, the first-ever Heart for the Home Celebration was created as we sought to not only pay tribute to our past but also look forward to an exciting future that God is unfolding for us! Nearly 400 people attended the event at the Greenbriar Conference & Party Centre in Wooster and after an opening prayer from Pastor Jerry Birch, the team chaplain for the Cleveland Cavaliers, everyone enjoyed the delicious dinner and dessert that was served while also bidding on more than 100 fun and unique packages in our silent auction.

The first highlight of the evening occurred early when we honored former CCHO Executive Director Gary Porter and his 33 years of dedicated service with a video presentation and our first Heart for the Home award. Please watch the full video below:

After dinner, CCHO therapist Brandon Jurkovich treated everyone to a personal and inspirational spoken word performance that examined the importance of fatherhood in the lives of children before handing the mic off to Dru Joyce II. The head boys basketball coach at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron and former mentor to LeBron James continued the fatherhood theme by speaking about his many years working with the young men on his teams and how his time as a coach and mentor has impacted his relationship with his own kids.

We also unveiled our agency’s first book, “Father’s Day Miracle: Faith, Fatherhood and the Day Everything Changed for Cleveland Sports Fans.” Everyone in attendance received a copy of the new book, which examines the intricate and sometimes messy relationships that are formed at the intersection of our calling as fathers, our passion as sports fans and, above all, our identity as followers of Christ. To learn more about this project and how you can get a copy of your own in time for Father’s Day, visit fathersdaymiracle.com!

Finally, we discussed our exciting plans to build a gym on the CCHO campus, a place where our young residents can shoot some hoops, burn off some energy and escape the cold Ohio winters. We will be releasing more information on this initiative in the coming months, so please stay tuned!

We were overwhelmed by the generosity and support that those in attendance and our sponsors demonstrated at the Heart for the Home Celebration. In total, the event raised nearly $90,000, which far exceeded our goal for the evening. Incredible! Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who attended, and be on the lookout for the next Heart for the Home Celebration in 2018!

We will be posting more video highlights from the evening, so stay tuned. In the meantime, to get a closer look at the festivities, please check out the photo gallery below.