Our food rescue and food distribution efforts in our community show the power of resilience, hope, and humanity. Join in and help make a difference! Contact us at thesmallthingsmatter@yahoo.com or 202-669-8550.

Wow! What a wonderful Kindness Day in Honor of Tommy Raskin! Together we performed so many acts of kindness in Tommy’s memory including: supporting our local animal shelter with handmade dog pulls and collections of towels, food, and more, distributing over 5000lbs of food to our neighbors in need, teaching children how to advocate for themselves to prevent abuse, brainstorming ways to be kind, and so much more. Thank you everyone for coming together to spread kindness! Let’s Play America Imperfect Foods Misfits Market Risa Shaw Phil Shapiro PsychePulse The Personal Care Foundation Licking Creek Bend Farm Takoma Art Library Tabletopdc Project Always Hearts Takoma Park Elementary PTA Montgomery County Animal Services & Adoption Center BECA (Bilingual Education for Central America) People’s Book Olive Lounge & Grill The Woods Academy, I Support the Girls Small Things Matter!

Please join us for Kindness Day In Honor of Tommy Raskin on Sunday, January 26 from 10:30am-1pm at Piney Branch Elementary School. There will be lots of community make-n-take crafts and ways to spread kindness in our community with families in need receiving food, cleaning/hygiene kits, Lego, and blankets from the various groups making/assembling item at PBES. Teens please signup to volunteer with us here. SSL hours and pizza provided.

Ways you can help support Kindness Day:

1. Please consider making a donation to Tommy Raskin Memorial Fund for People and Animals which honors Tommy’s generous work and spirit: https://tommyraskinfund.org/

2. Support these in-house kindness events:

Tabletop is collecting socks for Shepherd’s Table and Interfaith Works

People’s Book is collecting books for Small Things Matter =and= allowing patrons to purchase a subscription to be donated to STM for their literacy program this month only! Sign up here: https://peoplesbooktakoma.com/growing/

Olive Lounge is hosting a dine-in/out fundraiser on Thursday, January 30 with 10% of the proceeds supporting STM’s Kokua Foods Program!

3. Donate items for our Kindness Day Collections at PBES on Sunday January 26:

Please bring donations of yarn for the seniors at Heritage House who have a knitting/crochet club, feminine hygiene products (opened is fine) for STM Richard Montgomery; soap, deodorant, shampoo/conditioner for The Personal Care Foundation; used/new towels, dog toys, cat toys, dog/cat food, Clorox wipes for MoCo Animal Services and Adoption Center; new/used Lego for TP/SS children in need; socks for hygiene kits for Shepherd’s Table and Interfaith Works

4. Join in on our Kindness Day activities at Piney Branch ES

Not Child’s Play/Risa Shaw/Empower children/students, educate adults, talk and learn about consent and boundaries. Let’s keep our kids safe! 25% of all January book sales donated to STM. Purchase it at https://notchildsplay.com

TPSS Coop/Chloe Thompson/seed bombs

Takoma Art Library/Sarah Voisin/kindness pins

Licking Creek Bend Farm/Esther Siegel/provide apples; talk about farming

The Loft Collective/Lia Salza/craft based activity – TBD

Takoma Park Elementary PTA/Kaitlin Caruso/appreciation cards for teachers

Phil Shapiro/sharing short stories on different facets of human kindness

The Personal Care Foundation/Carol Freitas/making relaxing bath salts

Judy Ehrenstein/making kindness rocks

North Bethesda Middle School/Infinity Fonseca/making bookmarks for STM Books for Bedtime literacy program

Small Things Matter/Lana Anderson/cleaning/hygiene kits and fresh produce distribution

Small Things Matter/Karen Ackerman/knitting & crocheting items; distribution neighbors in need

Let’s Play America/Pat Rumbaugh/corn hole game

STM at Quince Orchard High School/Chelsea Grand/Cups of Cheer for seniors

Piney Branch Elementary/Molly O’Donnell/kindness note wall

Project Always Hearts/Jackie Summers/stuffed hearts

Girl Scout Troop 2474/Shana Fulcher/stuffies

Girl Scout Troop 34156/Heather Foley/making dogs toys and shelter collection

PsychePulse/Ocean Carrasco/mental health and neurodivergence awareness

STM at Richard Montgomery High School/Oren Egnal & Ved Bhise/assembling feminine hygiene kits

Girl Scout Troop 34054/Cara Honzak, Shannon Earle, Lee Anderegg/friendship bracelets

STM at Walt Whitman High School/Marion Lambert & Sahana Thyagarajan/mandalas

Snack table/Rachel Gold/Rainbow cookies

Poolesville High School/Ian Arthur/Lego

Imperfect Foods/Antonio Prigmore & Meaghan Christian/food boxes

STM at Thomas S. Wooton High School/Nikki Cohen & Abby Needleman/tattoos

STM had an amazing year filled with lots of food rescue work, holiday drives, backpacks, books and simply engaging our community to help those in need in our community. Some of our achievements this year included receiving grants that allowed us to serve an additional 500 senior households as well as to purchase a refrigerated van (debuting in February 2025!). Please take a moment to look over our accomplishments together. We are grateful for everyone’s help and we are looking forward to continuing to serve our neighbors in 2025!

Our thanks to Santa for visiting with the kids via Zoom! The kids were really excited and after listening to Santa read, “T’was the Night Before Christmas” they had lots of fun asking Santa questions. Here’s what we learned:

Do the reindeers like candy too?
No, they only like to eat vegetables.

Does Santa go back to work immediately?
No, he takes a vacation after Christmas.

How does Santa get around the whole world in one night?
Magic. Also time zones.

How does Santa get all that work done making toy?
He has lots of help from the elves! They start very early.

What time will Santa be here tomorrow night?
Depends on the traffic and the time zone, but always after the children are asleep.

Do the reindeer fly?
Yes, they are magic.

Do the elves get sick sometimes?
Yes, just like everyone else. It’s very cold in the North Pole.

How does the Elf on the Shelf or the Magic Christmas Bear get there?
Santa has lots of helpers for making the toys and checking his naughty and nice list.

Cats or dogs?
Friendly animals, depends on the individual cat or dog.

Does Santa ever have to do any waiting?
He waits all year for Christmas! He also sometimes needs to wait for the kids to go to bed.

Does Santa help the elves make presents?
Sometimes, but they’re very good workers too.

Do people ever see Santa?
Sometimes, but from very far away. He goes very fast.

Are there multiple Santas?
He has helpers to say hello to everyone and get children’s wishes. He also has lots of help checking his lists and making the toys.

Shout out to all the wonderful people who came together to make the holidays brighter for our children! We distributed over 2000 toys, serving the families and children we serve in Takoma Park, Silver Spring, and Rockville! Our thanks to our community, TPSS Co-op, Takoma Bev Co., Tabletop, Old Takoma Ace Hardware, The Takoma Park Seventh-day Adventist Church, Licking Creek Bend Farm, Yoga Heights, Takoma Montessori School, Orangetheory Fitness, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Wegmans, Helping Hands Army, The Senior Connection, The Studio Of Colour and Design By Margie Billian, Silver Spring Ace Hardware, Heather Foley, Strathmore Children’s Chorus, Sts Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church of Washington DC, Patrick Klees, STM Thomas Wooton HS, STM Quince Orchard HS, and our STM elves Chris, Mary, Lucy, Nina, Dudley, Ian Arthur, Charles, Howard, Tess, Stella, and Lana for making all of this possible!

Friends please help us with our annual holiday toy drive. Toys for ages 6-11 (children 0-5 are covered!) and $10 gift cards to Target, Starbucks, and Amazon can be dropped off at the following locations: TPSS Co-op, Tabletop, Takoma Bev Co., Old Takoma Ace Hardware, Silver Spring Ace Hardware, Wegmans Germantown, Helping Hands Army, Senior Connection, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Takoma Montessori School, The Studio Of Colour and Design By Margie Billian, and our office at 14516 Bauer Drive, Rockville, MD 20853. Gifts can also be mailed to us at Small Things Matter, 14516 Bauer Drive, Rockville, MD 20853. All of your donations are tax deductible just drop us a line at thesmallthingsmatter@yahoo.com if you would like an acknowledgment letter for tax purposes. Thank you for your kind help!

Our deepest thanks to everyone who contributed to a successful Thanksgiving Drive! Together we shared 2089 Thanksgiving Baskets (whole roaster chickens/whole turkeys, potatoes, carrots, onions, sweet potatoes, gai lan) with the families and individuals we serve. Thank you for making it a Happy Thanksgiving for all!

Our deepest thanks to our friends at the TPSS Co-op who raised $1006 for us by donating $1 for every purchase made at their grand re-opening on Friday, November 8! We are grateful for this and for their constant support and encouragement. The Coop gives us a space to pack each week, receives our produce and nonperishable deliveries, and donates a pantry space for our goods. Thank you!

Thank you to all of our amazing friends and teammates, sponsors, and partners for coming out to celebrate at our gala this evening! Thank you for putting your whole heart into helping your neighbors in need!!! We are also grateful to Takoma Art Library/Sarah L. Voisin, Carol Zimmerman Ossi, and our amazing community for raising nearly $1200 for STM by raffling off the Kindness Quilt they made! Big thanks to our friends Delegate Lorig Charkoudian who presented us with a lovely citation, County Executive Marc Elrich for his wonderful remarks, and Mayor of Takoma Park Talisha Searcy, GOCI Director Christina Poy, and Commissioners Yang Yu, Chair and Isabelle Balakit for spending the evening with us!