STMers Ella and Lana had a great time reading stories aloud to the children at Difference Makers Kokua Foods distribution on February 17, 2019. The children were very happy to take home new books for the libraries they are building at home. Our thanks to Ella for her generous donation of books for our literacy program. 

Books are near and dear to our hearts so we were thrilled to receive this donation of new books from Elizabeth Brinkama on February 8, 2019. We are working on collecting new books for our next school-wide distribution of books at a Title I school (TBD). We welcome any individuals, groups, or businesses that can help us by hosting a book drive. Thank you! 

STM had a great day on February 10, 2019 giving out free used books and sharing our mission with the TP community at the Mid-Winter Play Day. Lots of fun was had by all. Highlights included facepainting, board games, balloons, and Simon Says with Congressman Jamie Raskin! Our thanks to the City of Takoma Park, MD – Municipal Government and Pat Rumbaugh/Let’s Play America for letting us be part of their special day!

STM had a wonderful time with Colette and her friends on February 8. Colette decided to craft for those in need as part of her Valentine’s Day Slumber Party. She and her friends worked diligently to make tied fleece scarves. Colette decided to donate her scarves to the families attending the Difference Makers Kokua Foods distribution this weekend. Our thanks to Colette, her family, and her friends for their kindness.

We had lots of long strips of fleece left over from our scarves project. Rather than throwing them out we made some fun doggie pulls from it. These will be donated to our friends at Montgomery County Humane Society, Inc., Rockville, MD.

STM had a great time reading monster books, crafting monster stuffies, and playing tag and Simon Says with the children at the TPES PTA meeting on February 5, 2019. Hope you can join us next time! Check out our upcoming events at www.smallthingsmatter.org

Our thanks to all of our STM members and partners (Difference Makers, DM Ambassadors, DM at Richard Montgomery High School, Strathmore Children’s Chorus, Seneca Valley High School, The Goddard School), and volunteers including NASDAQ #NasdaqGoodWorks and Montgomery County Volunteer Center volunteers for donating their time and effort. We would also like to thank Youth Service America, Mott Foundation, and Montgomery County Volunteer Center for their generous grants to STM that made this possible.

• 70 hand decorated cotton drawstring toiletry bags filled with soap, shampoo, conditioner, razors, toothbrush, toothpaste for Interfaith Works Women’s Shelter
• 120 hand decorated cotton drawstring toiletry bags filled with soap, shampoo, conditioner, razors, toothbrush, toothpaste for Shepherd’s Table
• 100 fleece scarves for Shepherd’s Table
• 200 fleece men’s scarves for Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless HBCAC Men’s Shelter
• 350 fleece scarves, 35 knit scarves, 35 knit hats scarves, and 10 knit pillows to The National Center for Children and Families

Our thanks to future Eagle Scout Massimo Cardillo for his generous donation of used children’s books. We will be sharing these and many other wonderful books next Sunday, February 10 from 1-4pm at the Let’s Play America‘s Mid-Winter Play Day at the Takoma Park Community Center.

Our thanks to Julie Taddeo for her generous donation of children’s books for our literacy program. Lots of fun books that we’ll be sharing with the TP community soon! Thank you for your support!