Holiday Giving Program Benefits More Than 800 Gaithersburg Families

On behalf of the Mayor and Council and the residents of the City of Gaithersburg, we would like to acknowledge and thank the hundreds of donors that contributed to this year’s Holiday Giving Program. 

Through the incredible generosity of City businesses, congregations, clubs, youth groups and families, over 800 Gaithersburg families were served at Thanksgiving and again in December. 

For Thanksgiving, 274 families and 26 group homes attended a food distribution at the Activity Center at Bohrer Park. Families were greeted by volunteers from Capital One Bank and Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. The City of Gaithersburg Student Union hosted a children’s entertainment area with balloons, face painting and crafts for the children. Complete food packages were purchased through the SHARE DC program. In addition, 232 families were sponsored by businesses, congregations, clubs, and individuals.

Thanksgiving donations continued with Calvary Pentecostal Ministries hosting a community dinner with all the trimmingsfor 160 families. And the Flaming Pit restaurant generously donated a complete Thanksgiving Meal for 70 low income senior residents at The Oaks in Olde Towne, with City staff volunteering as servers.

530 families, representing over 1,060 children, attended the holiday distribution in December. Each family was assigned a volunteer “elf” who took them through each room to receive gift cards, fresh fruit, a handmade stocking stuffed with goodies made by Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, books donated by Discover Books, and toys donated by Toys for Tots and other businesses.

An additional 186 families, representing 605 children, were sponsored by clubs, congregations, individuals, and businesses  who delivered toys and clothing. 20 Christmas trees were also donated to families in need and 97 all-adult households were mailed a holiday greeting with gift cards to celebrate the season.

We would like to recognize the County-wide Holiday Giving Coordinating Committee and coordinating agency, A Wider Circle. The City is a member of this committee and through this year-round partnership, the program has been able to serve families in a more equitable way and ensure good stewardship of area donations.  

The City of Gaithersburg is very proud to recognize and acknowledge the volunteer work, caring and commitment of the 175 individuals, businesses, congregations and organizations that made the program possible this year. In all, these generous people donated over $20,000 in cash, gave $5,000 worth of gift cards, stuffed 589 stockings and sponsored over 400 families. We thank everyone who was involved for their efforts to make the holidays brighter for families in need!