STM was honored to have their work showcased on News 7 Helping Hands in partnership with Easterns Automotive. Kidd O’Shea and Bonnie Wood came out to meet our team and Joel Bassam, the Director of Marketing presented us with a substantial donation for our Kokua Foods Program. You can watch their news piece here. We are grateful for all the wonderful support! If you would like to help us reach to support our efforts to get funds for our summer work please consider making a small donation to our GoFundMe.

March 11, 2020 marks the day the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic. STM’s Kokua Foods Program has been steadily growing since then, expanding from serving 300 families with fresh produce once each month to serving over 1000 families 2-4 times each month with increased food services including hot meals, casseroles, sandwiches, nonperishable food staples totally over 1 million pounds of food as well as non-food items such as masks, toiletry kits, cleaning kits, and clothing.

Thankfully we are all closer to being vaccinated, but the need in our community will not go away overnight and many are on a long path to achieving financial security. Please consider making a donation today to help support our efforts.

Thank you! We couldn’t do what we do without all of the support from our members, our partners, and our community.

photos by Lisa Helfert lisahelfert.com

Our thanks to our partners at Silver Spring Cares and Takoma Bev Co. for the amazing grilled chicken meals complete with mac and cheese and a fresh salad on March 27, 2021 for our families at Hampshire Tower Apartments! A year ago in March 2020 Silver Spring Cares started their Community Connection Initiative to provide families with meals prepared by local restaurants. We are honored to be their food distribution partners sharing these wonderful meals with families in need across Montgomery County. Together we have distributed nearly 12,000 meals. Please consider donating to this worthwhile cause here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/silver-spring-cares-community-connection

Wonderful job by our teens yesterday at our pantry distribution. Delicious pizza, pasta, canned food, eggs, frozen chicken, masks, and clothes were shared. Our thanks to Marla Caplon/ MoCo Food Security Task Force, Wegmans Germantown, ROSCOE’S Neapolitan Pizzeria, The Makana Project, The Pollination Project, Amerigroup, TPSS Co-op, our community, members (Jimmy, Jim, Lew, Tim, John), and teens (Axel, Lucy, Isabel, Kyle, Kat, Lana, Ethan, Jacob, Anni, Josh, Pablo, Alex, Violeta, Aline, Adam, Shae, Brigitte, Andrew, Gabe, Owen, Grace, Sana). #kindness

Glenstone Museum had to temporarily close its doors in November due to the pandemic, but they wanted to keep their employees working and so decided to donate meals to local organizations feeding those in need. Small Things Matter is one of their many recipients. We are grateful to Glenstone Museum, Potomac Md for their weekly donation of 100 delicious meals for our families. #kindness

Our thanks to those of you who are making casseroles in honor of MLK Day. So far we have 70 casseroles and more are on their way! We will be sharing these casseroles at our distribution at the TPSS Coop this Friday.

Our thanks to @BidenInaugural for promoting our service opportunity.

If you would like to continue to serve in impactful ways with STM please check out all of our MCPS SSL approved opportunities here: https://montgomerycountymd.galaxydigital.com/agency/mgrNeeds/?agency_id=81036

Kudos to the teens for running another successful pantry distribution today at the TPSS Co-op. The families enjoyed pantry foods, rotisserie chickens, milk, chicken, Hanes socks, masks, and more. Our thanks to TPSS Co-op, Wegmans Germantown, Marla Caplon/ Montgomery County Public Schools, Hanes for donating 2000 socks, The Pollination Project for supporting Lana’s handsewn mask project, and for all the wonderful community donations. #kindness For a fun video of the day click here: https://youtu.be/VewRYcSjCdE

Thanks to all of you the holidays were brighter for the many families and individuals we serve. Together we were able to gift them with toys, Cups of Cheer, gift cards, fresh meat, extra produce, certificates to restaurants, hot meals, and more. Thank you everyone for all of your kind acts. We look forward to another year of service with you!

Lana Anderson received recognition as a 2020 Ravens Community Quarterback for her work as founder and president of Small Things Matter. Congratulations to the other award recipients and our deepest thanks to T. Rowe Price Foundation, Raven Foundation, and the NLF Foundation. Please watch this slide show that was aired during the halftime show of the Baltimore Ravens vs Dallas Cowboys game on December 8, 2020. https://twitter.com/Ravens/status/1336710585103343616?s=20