Community Service

In February, Eastview Elementary School in Avon Lake had a “Battle of the Grades” food drive where each grade was assigned certain items to bring in for the week.  The grade that brought in the most donations won a Pajama Day at school (congratulations to the kindergartners!).  Following the food drive, the donations were dropped off at Community Resource Services (CRS), which serves as the designated emergency food pantry for Avon and Avon Lake.

For Strata’s February community service initiative, Kyle and Shayla volunteered at CRS to help weigh and sort all of the donations from Eastview Elementary’s food drive.  A grand total of 991.60 pounds of food, cleaning supplies, and hygiene products were donated!  As an added bonus, while Kyle and Shayla were sorting, another donation from Redwood Elementary School came in – another 120.05 pounds!  Thanks to all the students, parents, and staff at Eastview and Redwood elementary schools for the donations, and to CRS for providing this crucial service to those in need in our community.

For Strata’s December community service initiative, Strata made a donation to Out of Darkness, as part of the 8^th annual “Our Hand to Homeless” campaign organized by Anna Rosier.  Anna is a Sophomore in high school and lives in Dublin, OH.  She was a third grader when she first started collecting items for the homeless.  This year she collected 1,263 total hats, gloves, scarves, socks, and hygiene items. These donations were provided to the following organizations:

• Out of Darkness – battered women’s shelter
• Star House – homeless shelter for teens and young adults
• Volunteers of America – supporting 70+ veterans

This is the third year in a row Strata has been able to contribute to “Our Hand to Homeless.”  A huge “thank you” goes out to Anna and her friends and family for all of their time and effort spent putting this together for such a worthy cause.

For our October community service initiative, Mitchell A. Romeo, CPWA®, CPFA, was invited to be a guest speaker at the Cleveland State University Beta Alpha Psi International Honor Organization for Financial Information Students and Professionals. This student-led organization consists of CSU students who are interested in pursuing a career in the finance industry.

Mitchell gave a similar presentation at Eastern Michigan University earlier this year for the Financial Management Association.  Mitchell really enjoys mentoring and providing professional guidance to students interested in the finance field.  A big thanks to Mitchell for taking the time to talk to the students and hopefully help them along their professional journey.

Our August community service initiative featured our second 5K race of the year, this time as participants rather than volunteers.  Kyle and Lauren, along with their kids, Will and Lucy, ran (and rolled) in the Fat Head’s Brewery 5K in North Olmsted, benefitting the North Olmsted Kiwanis Club.  Over 400 people participated in the race and enjoyed some delicious refreshments afterwards on the patio.

A little bit about the North Olmsted Kiwanis Club – they provide educational scholarships to high school students, sponsor boy scouts, assist elderly and disabled citizens with repairs, and provide funds and supplies to local food pantries, among other things in the community.

Unfortunately, other Strata team members were unable to make the race so Strata made an additional donation.

We are always looking for ways to help and give back to our community.  Let us know if we can help an organization or a cause that is near and dear to you!

For Strata’s June community service initiative, Kyle and Mitch volunteered as route marshals for the “Race for Kids,” a 5K race and 1-mile walk benefitting Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio.  The race took place on Saturday, June 25^th at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.  Triston McKenzie, starting pitcher for the Cleveland Guardians, was the race ambassador and spoke to all the participants and volunteers after the race.  All proceeds will go towards helping to provide safe, fun places for kids, ages 6-18, to go after school throughout Northeast Ohio.

Boys & Girls Clubs are able to offer programming that focuses on healthy lifestyles, academic success, and character development.  The CEO of the Northeast Ohio division, Jeff Scott, announced at the race that they are planning to open eight new clubs across the region this summer, including sites in Euclid, Lorain, and Elyria.  This is the first phase of a strategic plan to double the number of kids served by 2025.

Strata Financial Group is proud to support such an impactful and influential organization in our community.

The unprovoked war in Ukraine has caused so many innocent lives to be lost and families to be broken.  To do our small part, Strata made a donation to Save the Children for our April community service initiative.  Save the Children is a worldwide organization that works “to ensure children have healthcare, food and shelter, as well as learning and child protection services when children need it most.”  Currently, their focus is, of course, on Ukraine – working to support children and their families in the country, as well as those that have been displaced by the war.  We hope and pray for a quick and peaceful resolution to this awful tragedy happening overseas.

Over the past couple months, Kyle has been volunteering at the May Dugan Center in Cleveland.  The Center is a lifeline for 6,500 individuals and families who rely on a multitude of services to improve their lives and communities.  Services include food and clothing distributions, educational resources, behavioral health resources, support programs for teenage mothers, trauma recovery services, and social programs for senior citizens.  Kyle has been helping with the food distribution program by preparing food pantry bags for needy individuals and families in the Cleveland area.  Bags include canned vegetables and fruit, milk, cereal, peanut butter, macaroni and cheese, rice, spaghetti, and a few other miscellaneous items.  Distributions are handed out (via drive-through) and delivered to over 800 families, twice a month, and this is only one of the many services the May Dugan Center provides.  They are always looking for volunteers so feel free to visit their website to see if there are any opportunities that might sound interesting to you!

For Strata’s December community service initiative, Strata made a donation to Friends of the Homeless, as part of the 7^th annual “Our Hand to Homeless” campaign organized by Anna Rosier.  Anna is a Freshman in high school and lives in Dublin, OH.  She was a third grader when she first started collecting items for the homeless.  This year she collected the most items ever – 1,601 total hats, gloves, scarves, socks, and hygiene items.  These donations were provided to the following organizations:

• Out of Darkness – battered women’s shelter
• Star House – homeless shelter for teens and young adults
• Friends of the Homeless – men’s homeless shelter
• Volunteers of America – supporting 70+ veterans

Thanks to Anna for her time and effort in putting this together for such a worthy cause this time of year.

According to the Red Cross, there is currently an emergency blood shortage.  Chris Hrouda, president of Red Cross Biomedical Services, recently gave the following statement regarding the shortage: “Throughout the pandemic, we have experienced challenges collecting blood for patients from blood drive cancellations to surging hospital demand.  Now with decreased blood donor turnout, our Red Cross blood supply has dropped to the lowest it has been at this time of year since 2015.”

Mitch and Kyle answered the call and donated blood at the Red Cross, Lorain County chapter in Elyria as part of Strata’s October community service initiative.  If you would like to donate, please visit https://www.redcrossblood.org/ and schedule an appointment today!

For our August community service initiative, Hannah and Kyle volunteered as “book sorters” at the United Way of Greater Lorain County.  Books are one of the four items collected as part of the United Way’s Collect-Sort-Deliver impact initiative.  Books are donated by community members, local businesses, and corporate partners who hold collections.  Then the books are sorted, quality checked, and inventoried by volunteers and are made available to the community through the United Way’s collaborative partners, Little Free Libraries, and literacy kits for children.  Hannah and Kyle were excited to get out of the office early on a Friday, but even more excited to help get books in the hands of children throughout the community!

For Strata’s June community service initiative, Kyle and Mitch volunteered as route marshals for the “Race for Kids,” a 5K race and 1-mile walk benefitting Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio.  The race took place on Saturday, June 26^th at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.  Baker Mayfield was the (virtual) race ambassador and one lucky participant won a Browns jersey signed by Baker himself.  All proceeds will go towards helping to provide safe, fun places for kids, ages 6-18, to go after school throughout Northeast Ohio.

Boys & Girls Clubs are able to offer programming that focuses on healthy lifestyles, academic success, and character development:

• Over 367,865 meals are served to kids in Northeast Ohio every year.
• 91% of Club Members graduate on time.
• 54% of alumni said the Boys & Girls Clubs “saved my life.”

Strata Financial Group is proud to support such an impactful and influential organization in our community.

For Strata’s April community service initiative, we donated to the Blessing House “Be Part of the Heart” Campaign.  Blessing House is a shelter located in Lorain that helps families who are in crisis by providing shelter for children and support for their families.  There is a constant waiting list for the shelter, sometimes reaching up to 50 children.

The “Be Part of the Heart” campaign is raising money to build a new facility that will expand the capacity by 3x, allowing Blessing House to help all children who need it.  Strata is proud to support such an impactful organization and we are excited to see the positive effect this new facility will have on our community!

This February marked the second anniversary of the passing of our dear friend, Rino Romeo.  As a founding partner and co-owner of Strata Financial Group, he played an instrumental role in shaping the company that we are today.  Throughout his career, Rino’s unmatched work ethic and calming demeanor helped so many of his clients reach their financial and retirement goals.  His legacy will forever be a part of Strata Financial Group as we continue to grow and expand.  Rino literally changed peoples’ lives and that is what we are striving to do every single day in his honor.

Rino loved basketball, watching college football, traveling, fitness, and living a healthy lifestyle.  He is survived by his wife of 10 years, Amanda (nee Tromczynski); parents, Fred and Iolanda Romeo; brothers, Carlo (Beth) Romeo, of Avon, and Dr. Fred Romeo, of Columbus; sister-in-law, Maria (Tim) Yurick; nephew, Mitchell Romeo; nieces, Cecile Romeo, Kelly and Amber Yurick; and his beloved dogs, Gia and Renzo.

In loving memory of Rino, Strata has made a donation to St. Peter Parish in Lorain to help with the repair and renovations of the vaulted ceiling in the sanctuary/nave.

Anna Rosier is an 8th grader in Dublin, OH who throughout December collected items for her drive called “Our Hand to Homeless.” Anna began this drive 6 years ago when she was just 7! Over the years she has made lunches for the homeless and handed them out at the various shelters around Columbus. This year, due to COVID, she focused her efforts on collecting winter clothing and general hygiene items for women. With the support of numerous local donors she was able to collect 1,517 items this Christmas! Strata supported the drive by donating a $500 Amazon gift card to Out of Darkness, a Columbus, OH chapter of Atlanta Dream Center’s Anti-Sex Trafficking Department. The gift card will go towards helping and supporting victims of commercial sexual exploitation. We would like to recognize Anna for her selfless work during these holidays and for making a difference in so many lives.

For our October community service initiative, we decided to go with a Halloween theme. A few of the Strata team members went to the local American Red Cross center to donate blood. With COVID-19 cases surging and Hurricane Zeta (and other previous storms) hitting the U.S., blood donations are in extremely high demand right now. If you are interested in donating, please visit https://www.redcrossblood.org/ for more information.

Strata’s office manager, Emily Dohnenko, is the President of the Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) for Park Place Early Learning Center, a 501(c) nonprofit daycare in Elyria, OH. Emily’s daughter, Livia, attends the daycare. The PAC put on a “Calendar Raffle” fundraiser for the month of August, which is a contest where people buy a calendar for a chance to win a prize every day of the month. Strata was a top 5 sponsor for the raffle, along with countless other local businesses who generously donated cash and prizes for the fundraising campaign which raised over $3,000! 100% of the proceeds will be used to purchase much needed classroom materials for the children as well as new outdoor playground equipment for the daycare.

Our community service efforts have gotten off to a “fast” start so far – pun intended. Kyle, Mitch, Devan, and Emily participated in the Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio’s 18th Annual Walk, Rock and Run. The mission of the Diversity Center is to eliminate bias, bigotry, and racism through a number of different community programs, events, and consulting services. Due to COVID-19, the event went “virtual” this year so the team ran the 5K together after work throughout Waterford Place. Although it may seem otherwise based on the picture, we did not win the race. Nevertheless it was for a great cause and we got some nice exercise and fresh air!