The Need Keeps Growing, But So Has Your Support

Over the course of celebrating SPAN’s 35th anniversary, I have enjoyed looking at old pictures and newspaper articles and talking with former volunteers. It is fun to think of the group of six churches that started SPAN years ago. After spending a year and a half researching best practices, their members opened SPAN’s doors with training for 40 volunteers. If they could only know then that what they started has already impacted more than 100,000 people. Reflecting on this is a nice reminder that we can’t always anticipate the ripple effect of our actions. Just do it!

Many students help SPAN – often collecting food, such as with their Scout group, or volunteering at one of our community events. This past year, we have had several students help with multiple events throughout the year - the S(o)uper Bowl food drive, the Independence Day parade and SPAN’s Turkey Trot. Then, those same students planned and organized a project themselves. Two friends put together birthday bags for our clients, and one did a soap drive. In April, SPAN received a donation of over 300 pounds of pancake mixes from a student at Severna Park High School. Izzy Maly did a fundraiser for SPAN through the Severna Park High School Key Club and then worked with a local company to create a pancake mix that only requires water. It is wonderful seeing kids have fun helping. I wonder what the ripple effect of some of those experiences will be!

We also had many students help with SPAN’s Birthday Fest. It was wonderful to witness multiple community groups and local churches coming together in a shared mission of service, fellowship and support for a common cause. The rain held off for a great afternoon of food, games and music from Blame Lee and Controlled Chaos. The games were run by our member churches: Baldwin Memorial United Methodist, Our Lady of the Fields Catholic, Our Shepherd Lutheran, St. Andrews by the Bay Catholic, St. Martins-in-the-Field Episcopal, Severna Park Baptist, Severna Park United Methodist, Trinity Bible and Woods Memorial Presbyterian.

Also, thank you to Archbishop Spalding, Eco Adventures, the fire department, and Troop 993, Troop 804 and Pack 918 for their part in the event. The spirit of unity and compassion is at the heart of what SPAN stands for, and it was wonderful to see it brought to life in the form of SPAN’s Birthday Fest!

When we set out to mark this milestone, we set the stretch goal of raising $35,000. Thanks to this generous community, we made it. SPAN has seen an increased need in recent years for emergency financial assistance. This additional revenue will help us continue to be able to meet qualified requests for assistance.

Thank you to our sponsors: LaBarge Financial, Edward Jones: Alexis Lecouras, Blue Cedar Consulting, Severna Park Automotive, St. Martin’s-in-the-Field Episcopal Church, Bay Area Community Church, Kalas Funeral Home, Pasadena Animal Hospital and many families. Almost half of the funds raised were from families, which is representative of the amount of support SPAN receives from individuals. A huge thank you to those who helped us reach our goal! The funds raised will go a long way to helping around 150 additional households dealing with some of life’s challenges – such as loss of a job, divorce, illness or death in the family.

It was wonderful to celebrate SPAN’s 35 years with many from our member churches, current and former volunteers and other members of the community. It reminded us how SPAN continues to serve people across neighborhoods and how deeply our community is connected through that service.

SPAN (Serving People Across Neighborhoods) is an independent nonprofit food pantry and emergency services provider that has been helping local families with eviction prevention, utility turnoffs, medical/prescription bills, and food since 1990. SPAN serves 15 zip codes in Anne Arundel County. SPAN is located behind Our Shepherd Lutheran Church at 400 Benfield Road in Severna Park. Hours are Monday through Thursday from 10:00am-1:30pm. For more information, call 410-647-0889, email spanhelps@yahoo.com or visit www.spanhelps.org. Financial donations may be made through the website. Food donations may be dropped off 24/7 using the storage bin behind SPAN’s building or at the Severna Park Library and Severna Park Community Center. Please “like” SPAN on Facebook.