Giving Makes a Difference

This holiday season has already been filled with holiday spirit and generosity!

Two home-cooked Thanksgiving meals and an 8-week holiday drive is usually quite the undertaking for our staff each year. This year, however, PDG received strong community support from grocery stores and individuals alike, allowing us to spend more time on consumers and the event itself.

Thanks to large donations from Wegmans and Food Lion, and additional donations from Costco, Weis, and Shoppers, our staff didn’t need to take time from consumers in order to hunt down several $25 gift cards or item donations here and there. In addition, our event prep was streamlined by having one or two locations to visit for groceries, instead of several. More efficient processes mean less money wasted and more consumers directly served.

Our staff served over 100 consumers in Anne Arundel County and Baltimore City this year, with enough food for leftovers and staff. The events also included diverse talent shows and art shows, providing the space needed for consumers to express themselves and share their holiday cheer.

Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Orchard Beach Volunteer Fire Station were also critical to the event’s success by allowing PDG to use their spaces. PDG management, staff, and consumers all had really wonderful positive feedback about both events.

In addition, PDG is currently hosting its holiday food drive by distributing bins around the community and collecting food in its Baltimore and Millersville offices. While all our consumers have severe psychiatric disorders, this food drive prioritizes those who also have children and large families, the elderly, those without transportation, and those who are unemployed during the holiday season. PDG staff collect the bins by December 14th and then distribute them the following week.

Thanks to donations from Wegmans, Food Lion, Shoppers, Costco, and Weis, this year we are able to cover the gap in donations and provide as much food as needed to all our consumers!

PDG cannot thank you enough. We hope you know how big an impact you have on each and every consumer who can now enjoy a holiday meal and provide meals for their families this season. Whether you’re a staff member providing transportation to an event, a grocery store donating gift cards, a local business taking a couple food drive bins, or a church donating your space – THANK YOU!!

To view our Thanksgiving photo album, click here.