In celebration of the 30th Anniversary of Project GiveBack we have compiled a mixtape of positive themed songs entitled Make A Difference Mixtape Volume I.  This served as the soundtrack for GiveBack Saturday 2024 and will continue to resonate with the Project GiveBack team.  The anticipated debut is out now and features some exciting artists.  This project was produced by Ali Glover and Ransom Miller, III and Harrison Miller were executive producers.  This is the first phase of the plan to launch the Make A Difference Youth Poetry and Music Contest.  Make A Difference Mixtape Volume II will feature established artists and participants in the poetry and music contests.  The expected release date of Volume II is tentatively scheduled for February 2025.  Thank you to all of the contributing artists and our outstanding producer Ali Glover.  If you would like more information about the Youth Poetry and Music Contest, please email makeadifferencemixtape@gmail.com.

 PGB Mixtape v1

Song and Featured Artists

Opening: Do something special for someone else – Ransom Miller, III

I Made It! by Dasan Ahanu – @dasanahanu - dasanahanu.com

Interlude: Empower yourself – HarDisha Miller, Armstrong Williams

Everybody Eats by Mo Betta – @betta_mo

Interlude: It’s a great feeling – Gonzaga Wrestling

Higher performed by Community of Hope AME Choir - Rev. Tony Lee – @cmtyofhope - hiphopenation.com

Interlude: I love helping people – Harrison Burgess Miller

Own Accord by Marc Andre – @marcushizzle

Interlude: Strong Communities – Kenyan McDuffie @cm_mcduffie – kenyanmcduffiedc.com

What is Success? by Dr. Thomas Rashad Easley @dr.thomasrashadeasley – mindheartfordiversity.com

Follow Me by Tony Foster, Jr.  @tonyfosterjr – sonofthecity.com

Interlude: GiveBackSaturday – Ransom Miller, III, Miles Rawls, Wendy Gadson, Anthony Bardonille, Sean Glover, Mo Betta,

God has smiled on me performed by Community of Hope AME Choir – Rev. Tony Lee – @cmtyofhope - hiphopenation.com

In 1995, a few friends got together and made Thanksgiving a little brighter by delivering grocery baskets to six families.  Twenty-two years later, those few friends have grown to hundreds of charitable volunteers aiming to distribute over 2,000 healthy food baskets and other necessities to local families in need.  I invite you to partner with us on November 17, 2018, as we make a difference in our community through Project GiveBack’s 24th Annual Thanksgiving Food Distribution.

Project Giveback is a 501(c) (3) national nonprofit community service organization based in Washington, DC with a chapters in Northern Virginia and Southern Maryland. Our Mission is to provide a vehicle for corporate firms and other organizations to give back to the communities where they work and live. This is accomplished by coordinating programs that benefit less fortunate individuals and families- with a focus on children.

The Thanksgiving Food Distribution Program is designed to provide food baskets for underprivileged families in need of assistance during the Thanksgiving holiday season. Since its inception in 1995, Project GiveBack has distributed over 9,000 food baskets across the United States through this program.   Other programs coordinated by Project GiveBack include The Children’s Toy Drive, which provides toys for children in low income families, The Computer Sponsor Program, which assists area schools and community organizations in the acquisition of computer hardware and software, The Back 2 School Backpack and School Supply Event and The Children’s Easter Celebration, which provides a safe and fun atmosphere for children to celebrate Easter.

Our 2018 fundraising campaign is currently underway. As we celebrate the 24th anniversary of this organization, we have set a very aggressive goal to provide holiday food baskets for 2,000 families. The families are chosen based on information provided by The Washington, DC Department of Human Services, The Maryland Department of Social Services and other area community-based organizations.

We are requesting that your organization consider becoming a sponsor for this year’s program. You may choose one of the four levels of sponsorship:

Champion Spirit         $10,000.00 and above

Platinum                     $5,000.00 and $9,999.99

Gold                             $2,500.00 to $4,999.99

Silver                           $1,000.00 to $2,499.99

Patron                          $500.00 to $999.99

Individuals are also invited to participate by donating funds and/or volunteer hours to this program in the planning phase and/or on the day of the Food Distribution November 17, 2018. Volunteer registration is available online now at www.projectgiveback.org.

Please contact us to inform us of your organization’s expected level of participation by October 15, 2018.  You may contact me by telephone at 202-321-1911, or by email at ransom@projectgiveback.org. In addition, you can find more information online at www.projectgiveback.org. Please join us in giving back to our community.  Your participation will be extremely significant to the success of this endeavor.

Respectfully,

Ransom Miller, III

Project GiveBack
Founder/CEO

2018 Project GiveBack Sponsorship Benefits

Champion Spirit         $10,000.00 and above

• Full Naming rights to the Thanksgiving Food Distribution; presented by “Your Company Name” will be included on all references to the Thanksgiving Food Distribution in all marketing material, press releases and social media and web content
• Sponsor corporate logo will be included in step and repeat press conference background banner.
• Featured in “Why I GiveBack” blog and “Why I GiveBack” promotional video
• Directed social media promotions
• Inclusion in the #iGiveBack Twitter campaign
• Corporate Reception at the City Club (includes admission for two)
• Corporate logo/name on donor panels posted throughout the headquarters and satellite locations
• Branding recognition on all programs/marketing materials
• Ability to include marketing materials to volunteers and constituents
• Corporate logo/name and hyperlink on ProjectGiveBack.org website
• Corporate name on ProjectGiveBack.org website
• Recognition of support at all volunteer activities

Platinum                     $5,000.00 and $9,999.99

• Feature in “Why I GiveBack” Blog and Promotional Video
• Directed social media promotions
• Inclusion in the #iGiveBack Twitter campaign
• Coordinated volunteer efforts for sponsor company staff
• Corporate Reception at the City Club (includes admission for two)
• Corporate logo/name on donor panels posted throughout the headquarters and satellite locations
• Branding recognition on all programs/marketing materials
• Ability to include marketing materials to volunteers and constituents
• Corporate logo/name and hyperlink on ProjectGiveBack.org website
• Corporate name on ProjectGiveBack.org website
• Recognition of support at all volunteer activities

Gold                            $2,500.00 to $4,999.99

• Corporate Reception at the City Club (includes admission for two)
• Corporate logo/name on donor panels posted throughout the headquarters and satellite locations
• Branding recognition on all programs/marketing materials
• Ability to include marketing materials to volunteers and constituents
• Corporate logo/name and hyperlink on ProjectGiveBack.org website
• Corporate name on ProjectGiveBack.org website
• Recognition of support at all volunteer activities

Silver                           $1,000.00 to $2,499.99

• Ability to include marketing materials to volunteers and constituents
• Corporate logo/name and hyperlink on ProjectGiveBack.org website
• Corporate name on ProjectGiveBack.org website
• Recognition of support at all volunteer activities

Patron                         $500.00 to $999.99

• Corporate name on ProjectGiveBack.org website
• Recognition of support at all volunteer activities

18th Annual Thanksgiving Food Distribution Logistics

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Donate Online and Register to volunteer NOW at www.projectgiveback.org

As you begin to finalize your plans for the Thanksgiving holiday, we at Project Giveback hope you will consider spending part of your morning, afternoon or evening with us on Saturday, November 17th, as we prepare, deliver and distribute food baskets to families in the D.C. Metropolitan Area.  This year more than ever, we need your financial and physical support.  You can donate online at http://www.projectgiveback.org/donate/  For corporate sponsorship and partnership opportunities, please email ransom@projectgiveback.org.

Last year, volunteers delivered boxes full of food to over 1,100 families within our local community. We are thankful to those volunteers who have worked with us in years past and hope that Project Giveback will be considered again for your holiday community service efforts.  We also look forward to meeting and working with new volunteers!

Below are this year’s available volunteer shifts, as well as the numbers of persons needed for each shift:

Saturday, November 17, 2012
Bell Multicultural HS, 3101 16th Street, NW, Wash., D.C., 20010

6:30AM-8:30AM – volunteers needed to assemble food baskets (300 volunteers)
10:00AM-1:00PM – volunteers needed to deliver food baskets – maps will be provided (300 volunteers)

Working with us will only take up a small part of your holiday but will have a lasting effect on those benefiting from your efforts, including you!  Project Giveback is a child friendly organization; we welcome children at our events, as we believe you are never too young to learn the importance of “Giving Back”.  We also provide community service hours for students who attend schools where this is a requirement.

A light breakfast will be provided including coffee, morning juices and water so don’t worry about stopping by your local morning cafe because we’ve got you covered!

Questions:

Angela Fairwell, general event & volunteer information, 703-403-8937, angela@projectgiveback.org

Edgar Jimenez, on-line registration queries, 301-996-5308, edgar@projectgiveback.org

Ransom Miller, III, sponsorship, 202-321-1911, ransom@projectgiveback.org

Samantha Hawkins, event & distribution center queries, 301-412-1414, samantha@projectgiveback.org

Contact:                    

 Media@projectgiveback.org

202.250.1849 

NOVEMBER 19, 2011                                                                                   

17th Annual Thanksgiving Food Distribution 

Area Citizens ‘Give Back’ to the Community

 providing food baskets to over 1,000 D.C. Area Families

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In an effort to make the lives of more than 1,000 families a bit happier this Thanksgiving, Project GiveBack and its more than 500 adult and grade-school volunteers,  prepared and distributed Thanksgiving grocery baskets to local families, shelters and assisted living facilities.  Volunteers assemble ‘baskets’ containing two weeks’ worth of food – including Thanksgiving dinner – for families in D.C, Md., and Va.

“For the past 17 years our organization has worked to make a difference in the community, so we encourage others to join us in our efforts by volunteering or donating funds and so that we can have an ever greater impact this season,” said Ransom Miller, III, founder of Project GiveBack.”

Volunteers that participated this year include students from Howard University, Georgetown University, Bowie State University, Lafayette Panther Football Team and St. John’s Catholic High School. Several local Girl Scout troops and members of several national fraternities and sororities also participated.

Project GiveBack volunteers will assembled the food boxes at Columbia Heights Educational Campus (formerly Bell Multicultural High School) at 3101 16th St. NW, Washington, D.C.  Deliveries went to underserved families in D.C., Md., and Va.  Afternoon satellite distribution sites were also held at Barry Farms, Shaw, Kentland/Glendarden MD, and Fairfax VA.

WTOP reporter Max Smith (twitter: amaxsmith) covered the event and posted his story at http://www.wtop.com/?nid=41&sid=2639665.  Audio stories will also run through Thanksgiving Day.

Below is a listing of the Sponsors who contributed towards this effort (as of 11/14/2011):

To learn more about Project GiveBack go to: www.projectgiveback.org.

About Project GiveBack

Over the years, Project GiveBack has grown from a small group of concerned men and women to an organization that is positively impacting lives in several communities around the U.S. Project GiveBack has coordinated events in Dallas, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, St. Louis, and Denver. More than 17 years ago, Ransom Miller came up with the idea of feeding families. At an early age, Ransom learned the importance of helping others from his parents, who were heavily involved in church.  He is inspired by the words of Shirley Chisholm, politician, educator, and author and the first black Congresswoman who said, “Service is our rent on earth.” Ransom and some faithful friends decided to live by that motto, and Project GiveBack was born. They started creating Thanksgiving gift baskets and distributing them to families in need.  During the first year, Project GiveBack delivered food to six families. This year, Project GiveBack distributed food to 1,000 families and provided the average family with two weeks’ worth of groceries, including a turkey dinner.    

Hours before the sun rose on Saturday, the 16th annual Project GiveBack Thanksgiving Food Distribution was underway.  At 3 a.m., Project Giveback founder Ransom Miller, logistics coordinator Rick McLean and board member Patrick Stewart were at a food warehouse in Hyattsville, MD, with three empty 24-foot trucks.  By 4:30 a.m., all three trucks, loaded with enough food for more than 1000 families, were pulling up to Bell Mulitcultural High School in Columbia Heights, headquarters for this year’s event. They were met by a team of volunteers which includes a large number of members of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, who have made it a tradition to man the 5 a.m. shift that unloads the food trucks.  By 6 a.m., the walls of Bell High’s cafeteria were lined high with boxed stacks of food; chicken and sweet potatoes, fish fillets, sausage and beef patties, stuffing, celery, and onions, apples and oranges, and 1000 turkeys.   “Everything worked like clockwork,” said Project GiveBack founder Ransom Miller. “This used to be just me and people who knew me, and now it’s people who don’t even know who I am.  It shows that other people have taken ownership and invited their friends and family to be part of it.  That’s what you want, you want everyone to feel like they own it.”  It was an impressive mass of food, even to Project GiveBack volunteer like Samantha Hawkins, who started volunteering 15 years ago, when the program was distributing food to six families.  But as the program has grown, so has the need.  “We only have a certain amount of slots, and we were able to assist a lot more people this year” Hawkins said.  “But with the economy being the way it is, I got a lot of email requests this year.  We got several requests where both parents had lost a job.” By 6:30, more than 600 Project GiveBack volunteers were filling boxes with enough food for two weeks, plus Thanksgiving dinner, for distribution from Bell High’s cafeteria.   “We had people volunteering to deliver meals after they finished packing boxes,” said Project GiveBack media coordinator Wendy Gray. 

From Bell, food deliveries went out across the region; 100 boxes to La Clinica Del Pueblo Community Health Center.  One hundred boxes to Northern Virginia.  One hundred twenty five boxes to military families at Anacostia Naval Station.  Landover, Md., a joint delivery to the Kentland and Glenarden recreation centers.  Fifty boxes to the Barry Farms housing project in Southeast DC.   “There’s no organization like this,” said Patrick Stewart, whose commitment to Project GiveBack began 5 years ago, as a volunteer delivering individual meals to families in need.  Stewart now a Project GiveBack board member, spent most of the day doing bulk deliveries.  Stewart’s day ended with a more personal mission.  When a volunteer returned a box to the distribution center after being unable to deliver it, Stewart raised his hand, and delivered the food to an elderly woman in Northeast Washington.  “She was so appreciative,” Stewart said. “That’s what attracted me to Project GiveBack.”  The program’s founder, Ransom Miller, has seen the food distribution program grow beyond his wildest expectations, but his visions are keeping pace. Sixteen years ago, Project GiveBack delivered food to six families.  Two years ago, the program served 500 families, growing to 900 last year, and 1000 in 2010.  Miller has found that “the more you put yourself out there, the more stories you hear about people in need.  He imagines the effort expanding to Baltimore, Virginia, and points beyond.  “The more you put yourself out there, the more stories you hear,” said Miller.  “It would be cool would be if people did what we’re doing everywhere.”

(Project GiveBack is still accepting donations to help cover the costs of the 2010 Thanksgiving Food Distribution event.  Project GiveBack is currently planning an effort to distribute toys and age appropriate books to low income children over the Christmas Holiday in the DC Area.  For more information visit www.projectgiveback.org)

Visit WTOP.com to see its coverage of the event. Search on keyword giveback or click the following link: http://wtop.com/?sid=2126221&nid=25

Donate Online and Register to volunteer NOW at www.projectgiveback.org

As you begin to finalize your plans for the Thanksgiving holiday, we at Project Giveback hope you will consider spending part of your morning, afternoon or evening with us on Friday, November 19th or Saturday, November 20th, as we prepare, deliver and distribute food baskets to families in the D.C. Metropolitan Area.  This year more than ever, we need your financial and physical support.  You can donate online at http://www.projectgiveback.org/donate/  For corporate sponsorship and partnership opportunities, please email ransom@projectgiveback.org.

Last year, volunteers delivered boxes full of food to over 900 families within our local community. We are thankful to those volunteers who have worked with us in years past and hope that Project Giveback will be considered again for your holiday community service efforts.  We also look forward to meeting and working with new volunteers!

In an effort to expand services and reach more families, we will have two distribution centers: Barry Farms Recreation Center and the Glenarden-Ardmore Boys and Girls Club (address information below).  We are soliciting volunteers to assist with on-site* distribution between 2:00-4:00PM.

*Local families will pick-up food boxes from these locations.

Below are this year’s available volunteer shifts, as well as the numbers of persons needed for each shift:

Friday, November 19, 2010
6:00PM-9:00PM – volunteers needed to help set-up venue for event (limited to 20 volunteers)Saturday, November 20, 2010
6:30AM-8:30AM – volunteers needed to assemble food baskets (300 volunteers)
8:30AM-10:30AM – volunteers needed to deliver food baskets – maps will be provided (300 volunteers)
2:00PM-4:00PM – volunteers needed to distribute food boxes at Barry Farms Recreation Center, located at 1320 Sumner Road, S.E., Washington, D.C. 20020 (10 volunteers)
2:00PM-4:00PM – volunteers needed to distribute food boxes at Glenarden-Ardmore Boys and Girls Club, located at 8600 Glenarden Parkway, Glenarden, Maryland 20706 (10 volunteers)

Working with us will only take up a small part of your holiday but will have a lasting effect on those benefiting from your efforts, including you!  Project Giveback is a child friendly organization; we welcome children at our events, as we believe you are never too young to learn the importance of “Giving Back”.  We also provide community service hours for students who attend schools where this is a requirement.

A light breakfast will be provided including coffee, morning juices and water so don’t worry about stopping by your local morning cafe because we’ve got you covered!

Questions:
Angela Fairwell, general event information, 703-403-8937, angela@projectgiveback.org
Edgar Jimenez, on-line registration queries, 301-996-5308, edgar@projectgiveback.org
Laurie Barnaby, volunteer queries, 202-280-8231, laurie@projectgiveback.org or lauriebarnaby@gmail.com
Ransom Miller, III, sponsorship, 202-321-1911, ransom@projectgiveback.org
Samantha Hawkins, event & distribution center queries, 301-412-1414, samantha@projectgiveback.org