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

As we gear up for the final push to solicit financial and volunteer support for the Project GiveBack 16th Annual Thanksgiving Food Distribution I began to reflect on our journey which began in 1995 in the break room of consulting firm Thompson, Cobb, Bazilio and Associates. That year we collected money from colleagues and purchased Thanksgiving Food Baskets for six families the Saturday before the holiday centered on giving thanks. We leveraged the compassionate hearts of those who were doing well financially against those who had fell upon hard times. For the past 16 years, the focus of soliciting individuals, corporations and organizations and providing resources to the neediest among us has been a primary focus for Project GiveBack. Since that time, we have watched our economy dip and dodge around, but since 2007, we have witnessed a vicious surge in the amount of families that find themselves in a position of need. Early on, we depended heavily on the local and federal poverty agencies to provide family lists, but in recent years we have developed partnerships with like minded organizations, churches, homeless shelters and other groups who have proven to be efficient in identifying people in need.

Several of the individuals and families we serve deal with issues most of us cannot even comprehend. Do I buy groceries or pain medicine? Do I pay my electric bill or buy metro card so I can get to work? Do I buy diapers for my child or assist my mother with her car note. These dilemmas are real and far too common in our community. Unfortunately, these issues are not new to us. The most compelling phenomenon we have noticed is the increasing number of situations where a faithful Project GiveBack supporter finds him/herself in a position of need. This is a typical representation of what several community groups and who service underprivileged individuals and families. The evolving portrait of poverty is a true reality. The faces of those dealing with poverty issues are becoming more familiar. Your neighbor, your cousin, even your coworker could be masking their poverty due to the unfair and downright cruel stereotypes that plague poverty stricken individuals. Most people who find themselves in this position attempt to hide it for fear of embarrassment from their peers and sometimes even family. Though there are plenty of cases where shiftlessness and laziness have led to poverty conditions, we are increasingly seeing highly educated/skilled people in this unchartered unprivileged territory. Job loss and reduction in work hours due to company cutbacks and budgetary issues are obvious reasons for this evolution. However the growing underemployed population should be considered in this evolving portrait as well.

As a young man, I often saw social ills and pontificated on ways to cure them. In my short 40 years, I have learned that some remedies are beyond my span of control. On a grand scale, poverty is one of those tough issues that men and women much smarter, more enthusiastic, more ingenious, and more resourceful than I have been unable to fully address. While we may not be able to fully address this issue, WE CAN (and will) Make a Difference in the lives of some dealing with poverty and hunger in our area. On November 20, 2010 hundreds of volunteers will take over Bell Multicultural High School in Washington DC in an effort to provide food baskets to 1,000 needy families in the DC, Maryland and Virginia Area. It’s not too late to join our honorable quest. Visit www.projectgiveback.org to see how you can volunteer and make a charitable donation to this effort.

Dear Friend,

Over the past 27 years, individuals like you have made a difference in our community by supporting the efforts of Project GiveBack.  On November 19th, 2022, we will touch the community in a special way again.  I invite you to partner with us, as we make this Thanksgiving Holiday brighter by providing food baskets and other necessities to local families.

I usually ask for individuals to give generously to the effort by making a pledge of $50, $100, $500, $1,000, or the amount that people are able to contribute.  Though some have seen some improvements, most are still feeling the affect of the most devastating financial crisis in our lifetime.  More people find themselves in a position of need.  I am asking you to dig deeper than ever and find a way to make a difference in the lives of over 4,000 families in the DC/MD/VA area.    Your financial contribution not only provides support for a worthy cause; it also demonstrates your commitment to making a difference.

I also encourage you to do more than donate funds to this endeavor. Spend the day with us, deliver a basket, and see the appreciation on the faces of the families and witness the children’s excitement over something as simple as a box of groceries. The families we assist face challenges most of us cannot comprehend.  Seeing these challenges firsthand builds a special appreciation for what we do at Project GiveBack.

Project GiveBack is a 501 (c) 3 organization.  All donations are tax deductible.  Donations should be mailed to Project GiveBack, Post Office Box 18781, Washington, D.C.  20036-9998.   Please contact us by October 30, 2009 to inform us of your expected level of participation by phone at 202-321-1911 or by email at ransom@projectgiveback.org.

With Love