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!

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!

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 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!

The Takoma Art Library, (Free Art Supplies for All at 907 Erie Ave.), together with the help of our wonderful community, has made a gorgeous quilt to support the 501(3)c nonprofit, Small Things Matter. Carol Ossi, Small Things Matter and Takoma Art Library beloved volunteer, assembled the strips, and used more donated fabric to back the quilt. The result is this wonderful community quilt and a testament to KINDNESS!

The suggested donation for each entry is $10. You are of course welcome to donate more! Each Donation gets you a chance to win the community quilt. Donations are accepted via Venmo at thesmallthingsmatter, PayPal at thesmallthingsmatter@yahoo.com or personal check made out to Small Things Matter, 14516 Bauer Drive, Rockville, MD via this form: Community Quilt FUNDRAISER for STM (google.com).

Fundraiser entry sales end at 8pm on Saturday, November 16, 2024 at the 2024 Small Things Matter annual Gala at the Takoma Park Seventh Day Adventist Keystone Room. You do not have to attend the event to win the quilt.

 If the winner is not present, the quilt can be delivered or mailed to you.

Thank you for supporting Small Things Matter! And please share this widely!

Our thanks to Sarah Voisin/The Takoma Art Library and Carol Ossi/Small Things Matter and Takoma Art Library beloved volunteer

Wonderful celebration of #GlobalYouthServiceDay #GYSD2022 with Youth Service America projects on 1) hunger awareness (fundraising-surpassing our goal with $417 in bake sales with a match from YSA and packing nonperishable foods for Hampshire Tower Apts sponsored by the Sodexo Foundation, Amerigroup, Bella Ballet Kentlands, Saydam Properties Group at Keller Williams Capital Properties, 2) pronoun usage (buttons and coloring pride flags sponsored by Hillshire Farm #AllowanceGrant and Girl Scout Troop 34039) and 3) spreading kindness (friendship bracelets sponsored by Hershey Foods, Hershey Foundation #HeartwarmingProject)! Our thanks to all the AMAZING youth volunteers, youth leaders Ocean, Sahana, Marion, Shreya, and Lana, elected officials Mayor Kate Stewart, Delegate Lorig Charkoudian, and Delegate David Moon, and our community for coming out to support us!

Our thanks to the many teens and their families who came out to serve at our teen distribution (pantry foods/bras/clothing/meat) on Tuesday and our community distribution (fresh produce, cleaning/hygiene supplies/cereal/milk) on Friday during Spring Break. The teens packed both pantry foods and fresh produce and gave them away . We greatly enjoyed the energy that the teens brought with them and look forward to having them join us regularly at our community distributions during the summer.