VIENNA — Amid stress and division from the fiscal emergency it was placed under, a committee of lifelong residents hopes to bring hope, positivity and support to those in need.

Stephanie Garito, president of the Vienna Community Action Committee (VCAC), credited Trustee Mike Haddle for the organization’s establishment, explaining that she and other residents came together after one of his talks at the township’s hall in September.

“He (Haddle) had his trustee talks, and he announced that the theme of the night was about fundraising and community involvement, something that I am very passionate about because I spent a lot of my life doing that in our community,” Garito said. “I went and sat in on it, and I looked around the room; it was just the same group of people — a lot of great ideas were flowing. But just looking around the room, (we) really needed another generation coming up.”

Garito said she spoke with Haddle later, who asked her if she could take the lead on forming a community group.

Garito formed VCAC with several other Vienna residents — Josh Patrick, Miranda Samples and Amber Kothera.

“We just know from being here for our entire lives, the direction we wanted Vienna to come back to, in a sense, after everything with the fiscal emergency that happened,” she said.

Garito said they asked residents what things they needed as they began opening things up to the public, where they received numerous requests for a snowplowing crew for the elderly, a community garden and basic cleanups.

STORM CREW

Their first initiative was ultimately a storm crew, which aimed to provide single parents with children 16 and under and residents aged 65 and older with clear driveways after a snowstorm.

“That way, God forbid, (if) there’s an emergency, they can have an ambulance come into their driveway,” Garito said. “And it reduces the risk as well for the elderly to slip on their driveway and make their appointments; the single parents to be able to get their kids on the bus or take them to school and then they can go to work on time.”

She said thus far, the program has been working “fantastic,” with the crew of four volunteers plowing 14 driveways with tractors. Garito said they hope to save up money from donations for another snowblower next year, which would allow another volunteer to help.

Garito said getting volunteers hasn’t been a challenge and that many have signed up to shovel. She said Ron Fraser, who coordinates the crew, would prefer to stick with the tractors because they’ve been doing “pretty good” with that.

COMMUNITY GARDEN

Garito said their biggest program planned for 2025 is the community garden — something the township hasn’t had since the Vienna Garden Club, which was formed in 1951, hasn’t been documented since 1999.

She said they’ve been working with Lisa Stredney, a Trumbull County Master Gardener, who joined them as its coordinator, on the project.

Her goal and her mission within the community garden is to have a safe place for residents,” Garito said. “Some may not have the parcel of land to have a garden where this community garden will be able to grow things and enjoy it.”

“Her blueprints and her vision board are extraordinary,” she added.

Garito said they’re seeking sponsorship donations to help enhance it, as well as members to maintain it while they look to inspire younger residents through hands-on workshops.

501(c)3 CLASSIFICATION

Several months after its foundation, VCAC was approved as a 501(c)3 organization.

Garito said she cried when she received the notice.

“Even though six to eight weeks is very impatient, I went ‘Wow, did we just open a huge door for our township?’ It’s exciting times, even though we may be in a fiscal state of emergency per se,” she said. “It’s exciting to know that we are part of the resilience, knowing that we are gonna bounce back and we are gonna grow together. If it’s the start because of VCAC, then so be it.”