(Posted April 4, 2018)
By Kristy Zurbrick, Madison Editor
Jeanette and Christopher Canyon are award-winning children’s book illustrators who hail from Ohio. They’re also the featured entertainers for an upcoming event to benefit Sufficient Grace, a local non-profit that provides food to children.
On June 2 in London, the Canyons will use visuals, storytelling, and music to share how they create their art and books. As part of the family-friendly presentation, Christopher will perform several John Denver songs, such as “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” “Sunshine on My Shoulders,” and “Grandma’s Feather Bed,” which he has adapted and illustrated in book form.
Autographed books will be available for purchase. Lunch includes Lazarus chicken salad, baked quiche, fruit, and dessert.
The fundraiser is set for 11 a.m. at Brennan Loft, 158 S. Main St. (above Wilson Printing & Graphics). The cost is $25 for adults and $15 for children 12 and younger. Tickets are non-refundable and can be purchased at area churches or by calling Deb at (740) 506-4808 or Linda at (740) 852-2620.
The Timeless Treasures Mothers Club, a group of 26 London area women, are hosting the event.
“A year or two ago, Tracy Kronk from Sufficient Grace spoke to our club. We donated food to the cause, and it’s been on our minds ever since that we’d like to do something more,” said Deb Vanderpool, Timeless Treasures president. “We hate for any child to go hungry and couldn’t believe what the need was.”
Kronk started Sufficient Grace in 2012 after she discovered as a classroom volunteer that some children do not get enough to eat outside of school.
“Initially, I wanted to help 10 kids at the most. Once I saw the momentum build, my goal became to go countywide. Now, we’re in six school districts in three counties,” said Kronk, a West Jefferson resident.
Sufficient Grace volunteers assemble food bags to distribute three times a week to nearly 500 children in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade in Madison, Clark and Union counties. The children take the easy-to-eat food home for evening and weekend snacks and meals.
Food bag assembly takes place at 10 a.m. on Mondays at West Jefferson United Methodist Church, 36 S. Center St. More helpers are always welcome, as are monetary donations and food donations. Kronk also is seeking a volunteer delivery van driver and adults to pass out food bags on a regular basis at participating schools.
“The schools reach out to us. If we can support it financially and have the manpower, I’m there,” Kronk said. “Things always seem to come through. God has been really good through this whole thing.”
Kronk appreciates the effort the Timeless Treasures Mothers Club is putting into the upcoming fundraiser to benefit her organization.
“It’s wonderful that they are so kind and generous to give their time and energy to help us out,” she said.
To learn more about Sufficient Grace, go to www.sufficientgrace2012.org, call (614) 379-2224, or send email to tracykronk@sufficientgrace2012.org. Donations can be sent to P.O. Box 92, West Jefferson, OH 43162.
To learn more about the Canyons, go to JeanetteAndChristopherCanyon.com.
