Pool Report of Obama's Eastside Community Ministry Tour
TIME: 1:00pm ET
EVENT: Obama Visits the Eastside Community Ministry
Pool report
Not much in the way of news.
Protective pool duty was uneventful.
At 7:15 a.m., Obama left his home for a workout at a gym located at a nearby apartment complex on S. Lakeshore Drive.
We watched as he left his SUV and strolled slowly into the building, wearing black sweats, a baseball hat and a gray T-shirt. He worked out for approximately 45 minutes. We then returned to the house, where he reportedly showered and changed. The motorcade later left for the airport.
Obama's first public campaign stop Tuesday was the Eastside Community Ministry in Zanesville, Ohio, a non-profit group that provides groceries and clothing to families and tutors 32 students.
The visit came on a day when the Obama campaign rolled out a plan for a White House office that would support faith-based programs. A fact sheet provided by Eastside side shows that its funding comes from the United Way, churches, civic groups and individual donors.
Children in grades K-12 are offered help with their homework and life skills training, along with activities including 4-H, Bible Club and Girl Scouts.
The executive director, Bob Davidson, said in an interview after Obama left that he would like to see more government aid to programs such as his.
Children served by the ministry, he said, "come form generational poverty. Second and third generations where the parents don't necessarily see the value of education." From time to time, he said, people will ask "how come you can't serve more than 32 kids?'' The reason, he said, is "budget, staff and space limitation.''
Obama visited three classrooms and dropped in on the food pantry and clothing room.
The pantry shelves were stocked with boxes of cereal and canned goods.
Obama, accompanied by Davidson, asked if more people have come in for groceries in the last six months. Davidson said no. High gas prices may be cutting down on trips to the pantry, he said.
Obama said he appreciated the group's work. "What I really like about these kinds of programs is you develop a relationship with people,'' he said, "which means that with the financial literacy work you're doing over time you can help people make better choices in a way that some of these other programs are just not going to do.''
After a quick stop in the clothing room, Obama dropped in a group of young children engaged in a "listening'' exercise. Two children would sit back to back. One would draw a picture and describe it out loud; the other would then draw a picture based on what he/she heard. Obama went from table to table in his gray suit, rep tie and flag pin, inspecting the work.
Examining a picture of a truck, he said: "I see some exhaust coming out of there.'' Looking at another picture, he said: "Nice stretch limo!''
"What do you think of the photographers,'' Obama asked the children, pointing to the battery of TV and still cameras. One of the girls began to pose, and Obama said, encouragingly, "Everyone do their own pose.''
He left to check in on other classes, thanking teachers and students. He then came back to the room where the children were drawing pictures. Stooping over a table, he autographed a number of drawings. The children were delighted; one girl held her picture to her cheek after Obama signed it.
As he left, a boy tried to give him a fist bump. Obama said no.
"If I start that …'' his voice trailed off.
