Project GiveBack 26th Annual Thanksgiving Food Distribution

#GiveBackSaturday 11.21.2020

#GiveBackSunday 11.22.2020

2020 has been one for the history books. I don’t think anyone could have predicted our current situation.  The tragic reality of the pandemic has taken lives, disrupted economy and challenged our collective spirit. In spite of it all, several have chosen to make a difference in our community and serve our brothers and sisters in need. As my wife mentioned Saturday, in addition to the underprivileged families we usually serve, there is a new demographic of people financially affected by the pandemic. Now more than ever we must continue to find ways to GiveBack!

Times like this provide opportunity to lead through service. I remember watching of one of our long-term Project GiveBack Sponsors Pastor Tony Lee of Community of Hope AME Church replace his Easter Sunday services with an amazing food distribution for families affected by the pandemic in Temple Hills, Maryland. They have continued with weekly distributions. In similar fashion a long time another long-time sponsor, Emmanuel Brinklow Seventh Day Adventist Church has facilitated monthly food distributions, free health screenings, flu shots and now COVID-19 testing. While Community of Hope and Emmanuel Brinklow have always prioritized working to serve our community, they have increased their efforts over the past nine months and truly made a significant impact.

These expressions of love are inspiring, and I am so glad that we too have found a way to make a difference in spite of all of the challenges. Several of you have given your time, talent and treasure to support our Annual Thanksgiving Food Distribution over the years. This year posed obstacles we have never faced, but our remarkable Leadership Team found a way to continue our mission to serve. Our normal operation of meeting 700 of our closest friends at the DC Armory was not an option, so the team planned and orchestrated nine mini food basket assembly and distribution sites over two days.

On #GivebackSaturday we coordinated five distribution sites:

Clinton Baptist Church – Clinton, Maryland

Columbia Heights Educational Campus – Washington, DC

Dr. Gustavus Brown Elementary School (SOMD PGB) – Waldorf, Maryland

KIPP DC – Washington, DC

Turkey Thicket Recreation Center – Washington, DC

On the newly minted #GiveBackSunday we facilitated four distributions:

Community of Hope AME Church – Hillcrest Heights, Maryland

Dematha Catholic High School – Hyattsville, Maryland

Emmanuel Brinklow Seventh Day Adventist Church – Ashton, Maryland

Tree of Life Ministries in partnership with Prince Georges County District 9 Councilman Sidney Harrison and Purposeful Living and Giving – Clinton, Maryland

In addition to the mini distributions, the Project GiveBack Northern Virginia Chapter distributed 300 gift cards. All in, we were able to bless 3,300 families, exceeding our initial goal of 2,500. This amazing accomplishment would not be possible without our sponsors. This year’s Champion Spirit Sponsors include Bailey Real Estate Holdings, DC Housing Finance Authority and UPS.

God has truly placed some awesome people around me that have given themselves to ensure our success. I am truly thankful for our team. They have always been outstanding, but this year’s effort allowed them the opportunity to step up and lead in new ways. Pulling off simultaneous events was difficult, but these Community Heroes mastered the difficult tasks and got it done. This year’s success makes me very confident in our future ability to do more in our community.

2020 Planning Committee

Ransom Miller, III

HarDisha Miller

Wendy Singleton

Rick Mclean

Nijel Redrick

Edgar Jimenez

Angela Fairwell

Monica Brame

Peg Schultz

Milton Yates

Rev. Wayne Holmes

Elle White

Karmen Miller

Anthony Bardonille, Sr.

Anthony Bardonille, Jr. (Youth Director)

Meedie Bardonille

Thuy Cooper

Nikki Cooper

Tina Easter

Frank Borris

Lori Patterson

Derek Faison

Sterling Brooks

Yolanda Brooks

Michelle Bracken

Cathy Crusor

Sean Glover

Eddie Kaye

Janer Reyes

Prince Brown

Walter Smiley

Charles Parker, Jr.

Darron Jefferson

Dee Edwards

Pastor Edwon D. Brown