Many Happy Returns

I’ve seen quite a few online remembrances this past week about where we were five years ago when the COVID 19 pandemic reached the United States. What we may have forgotten is that deeply entwined with those memories is a birthday.

Happy Birthday to Columbia Community Care.

Founded by Erika Strauss Chavarria, then a teacher at Wilde Lake High School, its immediate mission was to get food to students and families in need during the initial lockdowns. In the past five years they have grown that mission beyond their original goal of hunger relief to include programs for youth and to address community issues/needs as well.

Columbia Community Care provides Howard County with food and community assistance through programs that address hunger, youth development, and wellness. We are committed to uplifting individuals and families in need with dignity and respect.

This video, posted on the Columbia Community Care Facebook page, highlights the next major step in their outreach: The Source, a community center to be built on the site of the former Patuxent Publishing building. What a great way to celebrate a birthday!

It looks like someone else at CCC had birthdays on the brain. A local family assembled 155 birthday cake kits to be given out at the Saturday food distribution sites. Yes, that’s a can of Sprite in each kit. Today I learned that you can make a box mix with Sprite if you don’t have oil and eggs. Ingenious.

Image from Columbia Community Care social media

HUGE SHOUT-OUT to the Maulding Family and friends who assembled 155 birthday cake kits for our Saturday sites!! They put a lot of thought into these kits, including instructions in 4 different languages! We distributed some of these last weekend and more will be coming this Saturday! Thank you for making these awesome kits!

In honor of their fifth birthday, Columbia Community Care is launching the Five Years Forward Campaign in order to continue expanding their programs and deepening their community impact.

You can learn more about the campaign and how to make a donation at the CCC website.

Five Years Forward Campaign

It’s understandable that we’ve been mulling over the losses and hardships caused by the global pandemic during the last week. It was a life-changing event which in many ways is ongoing. I’m grateful that we also have an opportunity to celebrate the creation of a local initiative which is still finding ways to live out its mission of community care and is planning for a continued presence for many years to come.

Happy Birthday, CCC!

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