A brief introduction

Hi everyone! My name is Janet and I am just one of several people behind the Metromix Cleveland site. I'm a producer, a fiancée and a dog lover and now I can add a blogger to the list.

There are three reasons why I wanted to kickstart this blog:

No. 1: It's something I've wanted to do for a long time and thought the start of 2010 would be the perfect time to do it.

No. 2: I have to give a lot of credit to two friends and local bloggers—cleveland's a plum and cleveland foodie. Not only do they write about great stuff, but their super popular blogs are also great platforms to help promote community events and fundraisers. These two inspire me.

For example, after meeting with Farmer Lee Jones earlier this month, Cleveland Foodie blogger Michelle Venorsky learned that unless Jones' family operation is able to raise enough funding, Veggie U will potentially shut down due to tough economic times. Veggie U is a national educational program that aims to teach fourth grade students about the importance of vegetables, a healthy diet and sustainable agriculture.

To help, Venorsky reached out to her loyal blog readers asking them to donate at least $5 to help support the program that's offered to more than 100 schools in the Cleveland Metro School District. She also reached out to the city's chefs and owners for their support. Dozens of Cleveland restaurants and stores donated gift cards that range from $50-$200 to be used in a raffle for those who donate.

Want to help? All you need to do is call 419-499-7500. Mention Cleveland Foodie and you will be entered into the raffle.

Let's not forget Alexa Marinos, the fabulous writer behind cleveland's a plum, who utilized her popular blog to help fellow blogger Anissa Mayhew (an editor behind aiming low), who suffered from a horrible stroke last year. In December, Marinos helped spread the word about a fundraiser event at Greenhouse Tavern to benefit Mayhew and her family. With the help of Marinos (and several other Cleveland bloggers), the event raised nearly $1,000 that was sent to the Mayhew family. Want to help? Click here and you can donate as much as you'd like via PayPal.

And, finally, reason No. 3: I think it's always interesting to find out what goes on behind-the-scenes at any workplace. Everyone always assumes that Metromix is all about fun—and it's true! We are a close-knit group here and it's a lot of fun doing what we do.

I plan to blog (as much as I can) about the highlights of the week at Metromix Cleveland headquarters (aka the newsroom at WKYC-TV). If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, feel free to shoot me an e-mail at jnguyen@metromix.com.

Thanks for reading!