SHELBY — Tara Klebowski founded the Richland Outreach Center (ROC) in 2015 to assist underserved families in Richland County.
ROC regularly hosts events and drives to ensure families and area children have school supplies, Christmas gifts and hygiene products.
Desiree Spilman, ROC’s deputy executive director, has been leading the effort to expand ROC programs to Shelby. The organization rents space in the Shelby Dream Center in the former Dowds Elementary School.
Spillman got involved in ROC about four years ago and has lived in Shelby for two years.
“I saw the need there as well, so expanding to Shelby has kind of been my baby,” she said.
Spillman said ROC gave away 100 Easter baskets in about 15 minutes at the first event it hosted in Shelby.
“That was our Breakfast, Baskets and Bunnies event,” she said. “It didn’t go entirely as planned, but we had free food and pictures for the kiddos and it went really great.
“Our next events will be the Back-to-School Bash and Kids Book Fest.”
ROC announced its new Shelby location in February and has been focusing on community outreach and seasonal events for kids.
“We used to do monthly events in Mansfield, which worked since ROC has been established there for a while,” Spillman said.
“I want to focus on establishing ourselves and letting people know what we’re doing in Shelby — so focusing on bigger events at the moment to get our name out there and let people see what we do.”
Shelby location accepting donations & volunteers
The Aug. 24 Back-to-School Bash will include food, games, free haircuts, hygiene bag giveaways and a screening of “Kung Fu Panda 4.”
“A lot of people do school supplies like paper, pencils and backpacks,” Spillman said. “I don’t see a lot of people giving away hygiene supplies, so we’re going to focus on that. I think teenagers especially want deodorant to take to school or brushes so their hair looks good.
“We try to fill in those gaps and not duplicate what other organizations are already doing so we have a purpose.”
Spillman said the Shelby and Mansfield locations are accepting applications for new volunteers. Volunteers can choose to work with one or both locations and go through a vetting process.
“We have lots of different positions and tasks people can help with,” Spilman said. “We’re also going to implement a training process so everyone’s familiar with what they need to do.”
ROC is also accepting donations of books, hygiene products and more for its upcoming events.
Donors can drop off supplies in person at OliveBloom Collective in Mansfield at 1352 W. 4th St or can message the organization to organize pickup for larger items.
ROC is also hosting its inaugural charity ride and poker run on Aug. 3 in Mansfield. Interested volunteers or donors can contact 419-565-0903, or follow Richland Outreach Center on Facebook and online at richlandoutreachcenter.org.
ROC upcoming events
