Monthly Update 7.19.2024: Spread the Word About Tommy’s Pantry!

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Dear Takoma Park and Silver Spring families and friends,

Summer is in full swing! Thank you to all the volunteers who came out and marched with us in the Takoma Park Fourth of July Parade and to all of our supporters who lined the streets and cheered us on. You are the fuel that keeps us going!

Events like these are a great opportunity for us to thank all of you for the time and resources you have given – and continue to give – to make it possible for Tommy’s Pantry to serve our community every month. We also need your help in continuing to spread the word about Tommy’s Pantry as we seek to grow our support base across Montgomery County and beyond.

Please follow us on Instagram and Facebook! When you volunteer with Tommy’s Pantry, go ahead and post your pictures of the hard work you are putting in and tag @tommyspantrytkpk. As you conduct drives for personal hygiene products in your workplaces and schools, please share that great work on social media.

Thank you for helping us encourage others to join our radical generosity campaign!

Best,

Sasha Johnson
Tommy’s Pantry Secretary 

Our On-Site Little Free Pantry Needs Some Love

  • Our Little Free Pantry at 630 Silver Spring Ave is heavily used and rapidly depleted. Please consider bringing some extra pasta, cereal, soup, and/or toiletries, etc. you may have at home to help keep our 24-hour pantry stocked. Thank you! 

Fundraising Corner

  • Tommy’s Pantry is 100% volunteer run.  Your financial support is crucial to keeping food and wellness boxes flowing into the hands of those in need, https://tommyspantry.org/donate/.
  • We now have an Amazon wish list for high-need and hard-to-buy-in-bulk items! Visit https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/I7P0QJ2992AF?ref_=wl_share to purchase. Please choose “Mark Hines” from your shipping address options to have supplies mailed directly to our In-Kind Donation Drive Coordinator. Thank you for your donation!

Volunteer Update

  • New volunteer opportunities for August have been added to our volunteer Sign Up! To join us in alleviating food insecurity in our community, visit the Tommy’s Pantry Sign Up page at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0c4eaca72ea1fe3-tommys#/. Students can earn SSL hours. Ages 11 and up, and please accompany your 11-year-old if it will be their first time volunteering with us.
  • Weekday volunteers with muscle are still needed! If you are available on some Mondays, Wednesdays, and/or Fridays, we could use your help unloading deliveries and picking up our wellness supplies. Please visit our volunteer Sign Up for more info.
  • Our group volunteer sessions are on a break until school resumes again in the fall. Please email tommyspantry@gmail.com in August with fall inquiries.

Tommy’s Pantry News & Social Media

Receive Assistance with Food & Wellness Items

  • Shelf-stable food distribution: Food boxes will be offered on Saturday, July 20th, at 7:30 am while supplies last. The drive-up distribution location is at the back of Church of the Ascension, across the street from East Silver Spring Elementary (630 Silver Spring Ave, Silver Spring, MD). If you plan to walk up, please email tommyspantry@gmail.com in advance.
  • Family health/wellness and cleaning supplies distribution: Join us on Saturday, August 3rd, at 7:30 am while supplies last. The drive-up distribution location is at the back of Church of the Ascension, across the street from East Silver Spring Elementary (630 Silver Spring Ave, Silver Spring, MD). If you plan to walk up, please email tommyspantry@gmail.com in advance.
  • 50% off WMATA fares: WMATA’s new Metro Lift program offers 50% off Metrobus and Metrorail trips for DC, Maryland, and Virginia customers enrolled in SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). For more information in multiple languages, and to enroll, visit https://www.wmata.com/fares/Reduced-Fare-Programs/MetroLift/index.cfm .
  • Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) offers FREE summer meals to youth aged 18 years old and younger. For locations, menus, and more information about these free summer meals offered by MCPS, please visit https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/food-and-nutrition/programs/.
  • To receive Free and Reduced-price Meals (FARMS) for the 2024–2025 school year, apply at https://www.myschoolapps.com/Application. Translations are available (select “Language” at the top of the screen). Families must fill out a new FARMS application each school year even if their child received FARMS services the year before.

Thank you for your continued support of this vital community initiative.

Wendy Kent
Tommy’s Pantry President

Sarah Goupell
Tommy’s Pantry Vice President

Kathleen Bartels
Tommy’s Pantry Treasurer

Sasha Johnson
Tommy’s Pantry Secretary 

Paula Kowalczuk
Tommy’s Pantry Board Member, Chair of Fundraising Committee

Hannah Raskin
Tommy’s Pantry Board Member, Chair of Fundraising & Finance Committee

Adrienne Tilton
Tommy’s Pantry Board Member, At-large

Joe Newman
Tommy’s Pantry Student Board Member

Tommy’s Pantry collaborates with PTA leaders, school counselors, administration and ESOL teachers from each of our schools, Blair school counselors, the City of Takoma Park, and county social workers. With the help of all of these people and organizations, we have quick and direct contact with families who need help. Rest assured that we are reaching far into the community – all across Takoma Park and the folks from the East Silver Spring neighborhood.

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