Charities
 Your patronage of this wonderful family festival means so much more than treasured holiday memories. Each year a portion of the ticket sales benefits charities that help a broad cross-section of our community. Thank you for helping us help those in need. The following charities will be supported during this year’s festival:
Gaithersburg Help
In 1968, the faith community of Gaithersburg recognized that emergencies happen quickly and government assistance takes time. To meet these immediate needs, congregations of churches and synagogues formed Gaithersburg HELP to provide short-term assistance in a coordinated fashion. Services include supplies of food, essential medications, diapers and formula, and transportation to medical and social service appointments. Now more than 25 congregations join in this network to help neighbors in the greater Gaithersburg community.
Gaithersburg HELP also receives substantial support from private individuals, local businesses, and civic organizations. All services are provided by a network of more than 200 volunteers, who work together in a common concern for others as an expression of love for their neighbors. The organization provided assistance in more than 3,800 emergency situations in 2006.
For more information please call 301-216-2510 Box 4.
Friends of Seneca Creek State Park
This nonprofit volunteer organization, commonly known as “Friends,” is dedicated to enhancing the park experience for visitors by providing financial support and other resources.
Friends developed as a result of the Seneca Creek Greenway Coalition, which worked with Seneca Creek State Park, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and Montgomery County Park and Planning to develop a 26-mile hiking trail along Great Seneca Creek.
Once the trail is completed and adopted, a few key members of the organization will work with park personnel to expand the vision of the group to provide financial assistance to Seneca Creek State Park through the fundraising capability of the nonprofit 501(c)(3) “Friends” organization.
For more information please call 301-330-6410.
Friends of Wells/Robertson House
Friends of Wells/Robertson House, Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to raising the funds necessary to ensure the positive future and growth of the Wells/Robertson program and to break the cycle of homeless and addiction in our community.
The goal of Wells is to provide recovering addicts and alcoholics with a highly structured, long-term environment that is clean, safe and sober. Residents of the house are required to: Create a Master Plan with long and short term goals; get a job or be in training/school; pay rent; create a budget and eventually open a savings account; do chores; attend 12-step meetings daily; and regularly meet with counselors.
Since opening its doors in 1988, more than 450 people have called Wells/Robertson House “home.” Sixty percent of those residents are now clean, sober and in stable housing.
For more information please call 301-258-6399.
Gaithersburg Community Volunteer Soup Kitchen, Inc.
The Gaithersburg Community Volunteer Soup Kitchen, Inc. is a collaborative, interfaith program feeding the needy and hungry a hot, nutritious, free meal six days a week from September to June. Meals are served from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Referrals to the program are not required.
The Soup Kitchen is entirely supported by donations. Food is collected from area food banks, wholesalers, supermarkets, churches, and generous individuals. Donated food is served by volunteers from area churches, synagogues, schools and other community groups at St. Martin's Church in Gaithersburg. Counseling is also offered.
For information please call 301-330-5812.
Shady Grove Adventist Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital provides the highest level of infant care available in the state of Maryland. The 27-bed NICU has an expert staff and state-of-the-art lifesaving equipment to care for premature and acutely ill infants as well as those who have just had surgery. Additionally, a highly trained and specialized Neonatal Transport Team brings critically ill or very premature babies from other hospitals to NICU.
Every baby in the NICU has his or her own “primary” neonatalogist who manages the baby’s care from the time of admission until it’s time for the infant to go home. All of the neonatalogists are certified by the American Board of Pediatrics as experts in neonatal-perinatal medicine. Additionally, there are specially-trained pediatricians and nurses to provide care for the infants in NICU.
For more information please call 301-279-6000.
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