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How to Donate to the Rockville Holiday Drives
Nov 10, 2009 9:12 - 0 Comments
The City of Rockville annual Holiday Drive needs your help to distribute food baskets and new toys to needy Rockville families. Last year 626 Rockville households were helped with food for Thanksgiving and 1,244 children received toys and gift cards in December.
You can make a donation for both the Thanksgiving and December Holiday Drives:
Tax-deductible monetary contributions are used to purchase fresh food and gift certificates for both the Thanksgiving and December Drives. Checks should be made payable to City of Rockville Holiday Drive Fund and mailed to City of Rockville Community Services, 30 Courthouse Square, Suite 100, Rockville 20850.
How to Help with the Thanksgiving Drive:
You can organize a food drive
Food collected by mid-November is used in our Thanksgiving baskets. Large quantitities can be picked up.
Accepted from November 9, 2009 to November 18, 2009
- Macaroni and cheese
- Canned green beans, corn, or peas
- Canned soup
- Canned cranberry sauce
- Jello
- Canned fruit (applesauce, peaches, pears, fruit cocktail)
- Turkey gravy (mix or can)
You can volunteer to deliver food baskets
Teams of volunteers deliver baskets on the Saturday before Thanksgiving to seniors and families who have no transportation (2 hour commitment).
How to Help with the December Holiday Drive
Donations of toys and gift cards will be accepted from December 10, 2009 to December 18, 2009.
Toy suggestions include:
For Babies and Toddlers
- Mobiles
- Musical toys
- Board books
- Soft Dolls (multi-cultural)
- Rattles and teething rings
- Shape sorters
For Preschool and School Children
- Action figures
- Coloring books
- Building toys
- Costume jewelry
- Play phones
- Purses
- Watches
- Jewelry making kits
- Yu-go cards
- Barbie dolls (multi-cultural)
- Art kits and art supplies
- Age-appropriate board games
- Sports-gear (soccer balls, basketballs)
- Popular movie/tv character items
- Hand-held electronic games
- Pierced & non-pierced earrinig sets
- Cameras ($10.99-14.99)
- Vanity mirror and hair sets
For Adolescents: $15 gift cards to Target, Best Buy, Old Navy, Westfield Shopping Malls, and Sports Authority
You can also sponsor a family
Buy gifts and food for the December holidays, tailored to a specific family’s need (usually valued around $250). You will be matched with one or more families, depending on the size of your organization. This activity is ideal for a business or civic group.
Call Community Services: 240-314-8310 for more information and drop off locations.
Community Services is located at 30 Courthouse Square, Suite 100, Rockville.
The Holiday Drive won’t happen without the help of caring neighbors. Please take the time to give. Take part. Give from the heart.
Bonus POTD: High Flag Ratio
Jun 14, 2008 5:15 - 0 Comments
Rockville Central friend (and Rockville Roundtable participant) Paula Watson suggested I take a peek at this for a possible POTD, and I was not disappointed! Here is what Paula said: “I like the ratio of flag to cottage.” Me too.
Happy Flag Day!
POTD: Happy Flag Day
Jun 13, 2008 5:00 - 0 Comments
This just seemed a fine specimen for Flag Day weekend.
Happy MLK, Jr. Day
Jan 21, 2008 7:59 - 0 Comments
Dear Readers:
In observance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Rockville Central will not be publishing today.
Actor Jim Lucas, a civil rights activist and follower of Dr. King’s legacy and teachings, will present an excerpt from Dr. King’s final speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.” (Listen to part of the original.) Other performers include:
If you are one of the many in the area who have the day off (or can get away for a long lunch), please consider attending the City’s 36th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday celebration. It happens today at noon, at Rockville High School (2100 Baltimore Road).
Meloso Duo (Prelude)
Nationally renowned Duke Ellington School of the Arts Show Choir
Mount Calvary Baptist Church’s Puppet Ministry
Soul in Motion Players
Jerusalem Mount Pleasant United Methodist Church’s Inspirations
Youth Choir
Derrick R. Middleton, Dufief Elementary School
See you back here tomorrow!
(Image from City of Rockville.)
POTD: The Waiting
Nov 22, 2007 8:27 - 1 Comment
(With apologies to Tom Petty.) This title only makes sense if you know that I took this photo a couple of weeks ago and have been sitting on it, impatiently, until I could run it today. It is, to me, the perfect pan-holiday use of a pumpkin.
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Rockville Holiday Drive: Many Ways to Help
Nov 9, 2007 16:14 - 0 Comments
Posted by: Cindy Cotte Griffiths
Department: Uncategorized
Tags: by Cindy Cotte Griffiths, holidays, nonprofit organizations, volunteer, What You Can Do
Department: Uncategorized
Tags: by Cindy Cotte Griffiths, holidays, nonprofit organizations, volunteer, What You Can Do
Take part, give from the heart
It’s November and the City Elections are over, so it must be time to start thinking about Thanksgiving! Some families can’t afford the expense of a Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings. If you are preparing the meal, you know to expect a larger-than-average grocery bill before the holidays. For some people, it’s just not possible.
In Rockville, we care about the people who can’t afford to celebrate the holidays. For over 30 years, we have had an annual Holiday Drive. Last year food was given to 622 families for Thanksgiving. In December gift cards will be collected for needy residents. Last year 537 families received toys and gift cards.
Have you heard about all those toy recalls due to lead? Well, this year the City is not having a toy drive. Instead, $15 gift cards will be collected for children under the age of 18. This is a major change in the way Rockville residents can help.
What can you do?
Donations of nonperishable food (canned fruit, vegetables, soup, macaroni and cheese, etc.) can be brought to:
Rockville City Hall (111 Maryland Ave.) during regular business hours
The Division of Community Services office at 20 Courthouse Square (Suite 205) in Rockville Town Center
The back porch of the Glenview Mansion (Baltimore Rd. and Edmonston Dr.); and
The Rockville Senior Center (1150 Carnation Dr.)
On weekends or after 5 p.m., donations can be left at the Twinbrook Community Recreation Center (12920 Twinbrook Pkwy).
Checks made payable to the Rockville Holiday Drive Fund or $15 gift cards (toys, sports equipment, electronics and affordable clothing for teens) can be mailed to:
Division of CommunityServices, 20 Courthouse Square, Suite #205, Rockville, Md 20850.
Donations can be made through Rock Enroll online: (It’s new this year! You can do it right now!)
A donation of $200 will provide food and gifts for a family of four (#23489)
A donation of $25 will sponsor a child or senior (#23490)
Your generosity will earn you triple Rockin’ Reward points and is tax deductible.
If you can, please support the Holiday Drive. Get the giving season off to a good start!
Some Halloween Cheer
Oct 31, 2007 21:02 - 0 Comments
All this election business is getting quite tiresome, don’t you think? How about a change of pace?
You might have noticed that tonight was some sort of special night.
I don’t know what it’s like in your part of town, but here in my neck of the woods, Halloween is a Very Big Deal. There’s a block party, and neighborhood kids and families trick-or-treat en masse. For many parents, it is a yearly question: which gets to go to the party, and which stays home to give out candy? It’s like a giant street festival.
I got to go with the kids this year, and took just a few photos. Here’s a slideshow of the ones that turned out!
Do you have photos to share of your Halloween night? Send ‘em in!
POTD: Walking With A Ghost
Oct 12, 2007 6:41 - 0 Comments
(With apologies to Tegan and Sara and The White Stripes.) You can feel that Fall nip in the air, and many homes have, as my family likes to say, “decorated up!”
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