Articles by Mike Rhodes

Neighbors Helping Neighborhoods

By: Jackson Eflin, Second Harvest Food Bank— Muncie, IN—The sky makes overtures of rain and a line of cars wraps around Heritage Apostolic Tabernacle’s parking lot, out onto Wabash Street and down the road.  Chandra Parks, of Muncie Southside Neighborhood Association, and other volunteers are packing bags of carrots, potatoes, canned beef, cheese, orange juice, and cleaning supplies into bags. They’re staying just ahead of Chandra, who along with her mother are checking in with the families as they load…

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Virtual Home Show 2020: Alaska Heating and Cooling

By: Angela Selvey— Albany, IN—Alaska Heating and Cooling has been in business since 1992. We came together as a family and invited some friends over, threw some possible names in a hat and drew out “ALASKA”. That’s how we got our name.  Our first day of operation, with our new phone number, we received a call from Mr. Corder and we have been rolling ever since. We are a small family business. However, we are very strong in knowledge and commitment to customer service. Our…


Community Foundation Announces 2020 Scholarship Recipients 

By: Kallie Sulanke— Muncie, IN—Congratulations to the following graduates – Callie Berry, a senior at Wes-Del High School, is a recipient of the 2020 Jon Hunter Memorial Scholarship. Berry plans to study elementary education at Ball State University. She is the daughter of the late Ryan Berry and Kris Berry.  Emma Davis, a senior at Burris Laboratoty School, is the recipient of the eKeeper Systems Unparalleled Excellence Scholarship and the Lathrop P. Johnson Scholarship. Davis plans to attend Purdue University to study computer science and Spanish….


John Carlson: Hell’s Own Hornets On Way

By: John Carlson— Recently I was heartened to learn of the arrival in the U.S.A. of gigantic murder hornets, because God knows, we don’t have enough crap to worry about already. Just kidding, of course. We’ve got plenty. Everybody knows we’re facing the COVID-19 pandemic, unprecedented joblessness, increasing hunger and growing unrest in our streets. So now we get murderous hornets the size of buzzards threatening to tear people limb-from-limb, too? Great! That was my first reaction to the hype…


Meridian Health Services: CEO Perspective on COVID-19

By: Hank Milius, President/CEO, Meridian Health Services— Muncie, IN—I heard a quote over the weekend which I believe is relevant for the COVID-19 challenge: “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” —Winston Churchill As this crisis unfolded, we were stunned by the negative outcomes. Today I’m focusing on the progress taking place. In Indiana as of this writing, 42% of all ICU beds and 81% of the ventilators around are available….


Community Foundation Grants Additional $11,000 In COVID-19 Response Funding

By: Kallie Sulanke— Muncie, IN—The Community Foundation of Muncie and Delaware County, Inc. awarded $11,000 to six non-profit organizations to support emergency response efforts to the COVID-19 crisis.  Community Foundation staff continue to connect with and listen to the plans, challenges, and needs of a variety of vital community organizations across Delaware County. Decisions for this fourth round of response funding were made to come along side these vital community organizations with identified immediate needs related to the Coronavirus Pandemic….


Muncie Non-Profits Call For Caution, Measured Re-Entry

By: Muncie Non-Profit Organizations— Muncie, IN—On Friday, May 1, 2020, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb announced the first step of easing economic and health restrictions on businesses and individuals that were limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many of you, the agencies in this article are eager to return to a normal state of operations and are relieved that the plan is a step-by-step process that will only move forward if we move cautiously. Over the past several weeks, Delaware…


A Better Way Names Tiffany Kerrigan Director of Development

By: Teresa Clemmons— Muncie, IN—Teresa Clemmons, Executive Director of A Better Way Services, Inc., is pleased to announce that Tiffany Kerrigan will be joining the agency as their new Director of Development. “I believe Tiffany is a great fit for the organization, and will bring our fund development to a new level of success.”—Teresa Clemmons Tiffany’s past nine years have been spent at Little Red Door Cancer Agency, Indianapolis, IN, where she was Vice President and Regional Director, East Central…


Online Summer Classes at Cornerstone Center for the Arts

By: Sarah Shaffer— Muncie, IN—Cornerstone Center for the Arts is excited to announce Exclusively Online Classes for the 2020 Summer Session. In these trying times the arts are even more important. Creativity is vital to personal and societal health. While social distancing we can still come together as a community. A selection of our most popular Arts Education programming will be available exclusively online beginning the week of June 1 and ending July 23. Classes will be held virtually on…


U.S. Senator Todd Young Highlights Indiana Paycheck Protection Program Success Stories

By: Senator Todd Young Press Office— Washington– U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) recently spoke about the ongoing response to the coronavirus pandemic and highlighted several Paycheck Protection Program success stories in Indiana. To date, Indiana has received nearly $10 billion in Paycheck Protection Program loans. “Over the last six weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to connect to roughly 22,000 Hoosiers. This of course is an anxious time, this is a time when people want their public officials to be accessible,…