Blog Archives

8/26/2021 0 Comments

Our Community Responds

Including a short break to catch our breath, we’ve now started Week 4 of Honks for Jason, and things keep getting better and better. Need proof? Check out the new picture gallery below.

We have reached our first fundraising goal!!! In just a few days, we’ve already had more than 130 gifts that have totaled more than $10,000! This impressive sum will take us a long way towards the purchase of a new transport bus for the Home, which will allow residents and day program attendees like Jason a greater ability to interact with the community of Sharonville.
Through 3+ weeks, “Jason’s World Tour” has logged nearly 30 Honking sessions at eight different locations. Our most recent thanks go out to The Sharonvillains and Specialty Screen & Glass for their terrific community spirit and generosity.
The official count is up to 7751 honks! We are nearing our initial goal of 10,000 Honks and will be sure to let everyone know when we are getting close–so you can come celebrate with us!
Both this week and next, we have scheduled 4 more waving events. After that, we will take another week-plus break before resuming in mid-September. Be sure to come by to honk or wave with us, as many folks are doing already.
Because of the huge outreach from the community, we will be setting up at a number of events hosted by local businesses. These are great folks who love their town, so consider supporting them whenever you can.
Be sure to sign up for an event on Facebook if you can make it
Some of Jason’s peers and friends from St Joseph Home and elsewhere will be coming out to some of our events. Stopping by is a great way to meet them and see what the Home is all about.
Two of our most amazing events happened in the last two weeks–The Sharonvillains car procession and our Honks session at Specialty Screen & Glass.
The incomparable Sharonvillains have claimed the Honks for Jason Spirit Award! Without any help or even knowledge from us, this Sharonville Facebook Group self-organized a long procession of cars, trucks, motorcycles, even a well-decorated golf cart for Jason. Vehicles were decorated with window paint, balloons, streamers, and signs, and there was plenty of noise. An escort of Sharonville’s finest bookended the cars. Super organizer Mike Cheney brought up the rear in his vintage Ford Thunderbird Convertible and gave Jason a personal tour of the town afterwards. All the folks passed the hat to present St Joseph Home with a generous donation. Make sure you see the parade and Jason’s reaction here. What a great time!

Just yesterday, we were hosted by the great group at Specialty Screen & Glass. This long-time family business sits on Main Street in Downtown Sharonville. Brothers Joe and Tony provided well-needed fans for us on a scorching 97° day (which didn’t seem to faze Jason’s enthusiasm), and we collected lots of honks. Most wonderful was their donation–by far the largest we have received–one dollar for each honk we remained under our goal of 10,000! What a tremendous community spirit! Check out the gallery below.
More media coverage came our way recently: Spectrum News1 Ohio did a great story of our most recent visit to the Sharonville UPS Facility. Reporter Sheena Elzie and her team covered the event and also wrote an accompanying article. Thanks Sheena!
Not to be outdone, the Cincinnati Enquirer got into the action to write a feature article in their Local News section (unfortunately, it’s not available online).
So did the City of Blue Ash–we made their latest newsletter! Here is their video of the First Responders Honks parade.
As we mentioned above, we have surpassed $10,000 raised for St Joseph Home. We will keep going as long as we have more donations than Honks, and we have lots of already-sponsored Honks to collect!
Looking to contribute? Our fundraising site, where you can sponsor honks ($1/honk) is here.
We also have a TEXT to GIVE option for donations: Just text the word HONKS to 44321
In the next week, our highlight events will be at our hosts alReddy Café (8/26 at 11 AM-1 PM), Swaim Park in Montgomery (8/28 at 4 PM), and Starbucks Evendale (8/31 at 10 AM).
We are finalizing quite a few additional events at a number of kind local businesses and organizations, so keep checking the schedule. If you would like to host Jason and his friends at your place of business, please drop us a line at [email protected].

Our heartfelt gratitude goes to our many, many newest supporters, welcome to the Neighborhood!

Judy M
Mattingly Glass LLC
Don & Natalie F
Mike C
Junk King of Cincinnati
Emily W
Jordan H
Blake P
Neighborhood guy
Juliette A
Harry S
Man in the orange shirt
Paige M
Five Specialty Glass passersby
Dennis H
Cheryl and Josh S
Jill C
Andrew K
Julie A
Maleha M
Ron & Barb S
James L
Diane R
Marc S
Jennifer W
David & Adrienne L
Juanita N
Sheri & John R
Laney S
Laura M
DogWatch Hidden Fences
Mary B
Sherri W
Amanda R
Chip & Jill L
Laura F
Renata Z
Nicole E for Michael S
Melissa W
Suzanne S
The Sharonvillians
The Sharonville Community Center staff
Kind neighbors
Margaret C
USPS Driver
Ron S
Mae
Starbucks dad
Cici M
Mark L
Rob from Sharonville
and seventeen Anonymous Donors

Wave on!

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8/5/2021 0 Comments

A Parade of Honks

Week 2 of Honks for Jason is underway, and our last week has been the best yet, by far! Here’s some highlights, with lots of pictures below:

“Jason’s World Tour” Week 2 began Monday. So far, we’ve logged an astounding 10 Honking sessions at seven different locations. Many thanks to Starbucks Blue Ash, Junk King Cincinnati, Vincenzo’s Italian Restaurant, and the City of Blue Ash first responders for graciously hosting us at their locations.
The official count is up to 4619 honks! Just because folks keep asking, it’s one honk per car per event, and yes, shouting “Honk” works just fine if you are walking or riding by.
Another tip: We always yell “Audi, Neighbor” whenever an Audi honks because that’s who we are
Good at counting? Nimble-fingered? Not easily distracted? Professional honk-counting may be in your future! We are now recruiting ambitious, eager, cheerful, and enthusiastic honk counters. Come by one of our Honk Sessions and try it out for an hour! The pay ($0/hr) is lousy and the “work” can be challenging, but it’s a lot of fun and you may even get away with adding it to your resume! Come on out and be one of the cool kids!

Learn from the professionals! Master honk-counter Ryan will teach you all the skills
you need to succeed in your new career.

In the next week, we have 9 more waving events scheduled. After that, we will take a 10-day hiatus to refresh and catch up on sleep before hitting the home stretch. Be sure to come by to honk or wave with us, as many folks are doing already.
Be sure to sign up for an event on Facebook if you can make it
Jason continues to bring his peers and friends from St Joseph Home and elsewhere to some of our events, check out the pictures below.
It’s hard to choose, but we think that our two favorite events in the last week were those hosted yesterday at Junk King Cincinnati and by the Blue Ash Police and Fire Departments.
At Junk King, we were treated to a 3X parade of all the Junk King trucks, complete with giant giraffes and other crazy animals. We think they were stuffed, but we aren’t quite sure. Enthusiastic CEO Jack Brendamore and super organizer Julie Weil led the whole Junk King team that brought plenty of energy. Be sure to check out this terrific business that donates most of its items to worthy causes such as St Joseph Home. Here’s a video that captured the spirit of the morning. What a great time!
We hardly had time to catch our breath before we headed off to our Blue Ash event. The Blue Ash first responders teamed together for an incredible afternoon! Police chief Scott Noel and Fire Chief Scott Theders hung out with us for a long time, as did a number of officers and crew. Best was a 2X parade of police cruisers and fire trucks that got Jason so excited, he almost bounced his wheelchair into orbit!
Special thanks to officer Beth Roach, who single-handedly organized a stellar event, Jason’s pal Officer Bill Fritts, and the City of Blue Ash for shouting the word out so loudly.
Both Junk King Cincinnati and the Blue Ash Police Fund were so very kind to make substantial donations to our partner St Joseph Home. Blue Ash pledged $1 for every honk we got, and we got a lot that hour!
We are so grateful for the amazing coverage of our Junk King and Blue Ash events by FOX19 News. Reporter Andrea Medina and her team covered both events and spent nearly 2 hours with us.
Missed the 3 separate news segments yesterday and this morning? Check it all out here.
The kind donations are still keeping ahead of the honks. As of today, we have raised more than $7000 for St Joseph Home. We are so grateful for the outpouring of support and love.
Looking to contribute? Our fundraising site, where you can sponsor honks ($1/honk) is here.
We also have a TEXT to GIVE option for donations: Just text the word HONKS to 44321
In the next week, our highlight events will be the Sharonville drive-by car procession (8/7 at 4 PM) and a redux at the Sharonville UPS Distribution Facility (8/10 at 9 AM).
We are finalizing quite a few additional events at a number of kind local businesses and organizations, so keep checking the schedule. If you would like to host Jason and his friends at your place of business, please drop us a line at [email protected].