CFR Recipient Highlight: Adventist Community Services and the Holiday Giving Project

The holiday season is upon us, and this brings about a time of giving thanks and celebrating. Here at Community Food Rescue, we are thankful for the dedication and hard work from ALL our network members; donors, volunteers, and recipients. We literally couldn’t accomplish our mission without them.  We knew for the month of November that we wanted to feature a program that has made a huge impact on the community, and Holiday Giving was an obvious choice!

The Holiday Giving project has been a part of Montgomery County for over 30 years and helps thousands of families each year. Holiday Giving does amazing work for our community, but it wouldn’t be possible without the Holiday Giving Coalition, a network of non-profits, faith-based organizations, and governments. These organizations adopt specific zip codes in the county and provide gift cards, food, and toys to families in need.  

We reached out to a longtime CFR recipient and Holiday Giving founding partner, Adventist Community Services to ask them about their participation in the program. Ken Flemmer shared the following with us: 

What special food resources do you provide for the Holidays? We heard that your organization is part of the Holiday Giving Program, can you tell us how you got involved? 

“Since 1973 Sligo Adventist Church has partnered with Adventist Community Services (ACS) to provide food for special Holiday Baskets.  This predated Holiday Giving.  The Sligo “Festival of Praise” takes place the Sabbath prior to Thanksgiving.  Members and the community bring food to the Service and in a procession bring it to the front of the church. In 2023 it filled a 10 ft U-Haul truck.  Each basket is about 15 pounds of shelf stable food, 5 pounds of fresh produce, and a small turkey/chicken.” 

What services (food or otherwise) does your organization provide?

“The Center has a free “thrift” store.  The Center has also engaged with crisis response such as the Afghan displaced and the Flower Branch apartment explosion.  The last few summers ACS has also provided free summer camps for elementary age kids.  In the past decade ACS has also mentored new community programs.  One example is the assistance provided to what became Tommy’s Pantry. ACS also provides diapers and feminine hygiene items.” 

Your organization has been a member of CFR since 2015 and received 41,227lbs. of food, equivalent to over 34,330 meals. What is/has been your organization’s most memorable experience with CFR? 

“Getting bulk apples that have been delivered to So What Else and the peaches that were available this past summer.  Picking up 1000 pounds of apples makes it possible (more or less) to give a family all the apples they want.” 

We are so grateful to Adventist Community Services for all they do during the Holidays and beyond! Happy Thanksgiving from the Community Food Rescue Team!