Helping others and serving the community are integral parts of the learning process in Friends education. Service learning benefits the community and gives knowledge of the world in real and concrete ways. Through a variety of short-term and long-term service commitments, students are exposed to the needs of people whose life experience differs from their own. In keeping with Friends values, we commit to personal interaction with individuals who can benefit from the gifts of our time, our caring, our labor and the sharing of ourselves. We strive to balance our outreach with conscious reflection on our experience. In service to others, we address issues such as diversity, prejudice and social justice. Beyond heightened awareness of the world around us, we stand to gain self-esteem and humility which helps sustain us as committed, responsible and joyful members of a wider human community.

Sandy Spring Friends School
Community Service Events and Activities, Fall, 2008

All-Community:

• Sandy Spring Friends' first All-School Saturday Service Day
  The SSFS All-School Service Day on April 26th, sponsored by the Upper School Spirit squad, was a smashing success. In just four hours, a mighty group of over 60 community members:

  • Baked 300 muffins, giving them to Shepherd's Table, along with a dozen casseroles and a bag full of sandwich wraps made out of healthy ingredients
  • Created 14 blankets for sick children and delivered them to the Montgomery General Pediatrics unit, along with beautiful crocheted throws made by the Middle School
  • Sorted and organized thousands of travel toiletries, donating them to the homeless at Shepherd's Table
  • Crafted over 3 dozen bowls for our next Empty Bowl event
  • Made beautiful, printed canvas banners for Shepherd's Table walls and dozens of colorful placemats for their tables
  • Folded Lower School lost-and-found clothing, driving the batch to Interfaith Clothing Center
  • Read stories under the trees about homelessness and helping others
  • Made and sold tasty lunch wraps, with proceeds benefiting the day

  At the end of the day, Mepi Meyers, clerk of the Spirit Squad, delivered the food and toiletries to Shepherd's Table, a Silver Spring organization that serves dinner to over 150 people nightly. The Shepherd's Table staff was welcoming and very appreciative of the mounds of food and supplies donated by SSFS and said that the muffins would be used that night for the folks already cueing up outside for their evening meal.

  Many hands, many helpers---with fun, laughter and camaraderie, the SSFS volunteers enjoyed a meaningful day of service to others.

• Empty Bowl
  

  On Sunday, February 24, 2008, our much-awaited Empty Bowl Supper was held in Westview Dining Hall. At this special supper event, hundreds of guests were served a delicious vegetable soup in handmade ceramic bowls in exchange for a donation to fight hunger. Guests kept their bowl as a reminder of the Empty Bowls Project and those around the world who face hunger. All proceeds benefit Second Harvest, a nationwide organization that is dedicated to fighting hunger in our country. The artfully created bowls provided for this event were produced right on campus by many members of the SSFS community including students (PK -12), their families, faculty, staff and board members.

• Caring with Casseroles
  Caring with Casseroles flier/information
  Casserole recipes

  To the SSFS Community,
  Many thanks to those of you who have prepared a meal for the PA Caring with Casseroles project. The freezer is filling up fast.
  Won't you please consider taking a pan and recipe sheet home to prepare a casserole. This time-period between Thanksgiving and the holidays is a great time for everyone to think about preparing a meal for the homeless shelter. With the cold weather here, a warm meal will surely be welcomed.
  This is an excellent project to work on with your kids.
  As noted in the informational flier above, pans and recipes are located in the LS lobby, with the MS Heart and Hands Committee, and in the US Community Service Office. Thanks to the MS and US student committees for their help in monitoring supplies.
  Don't come to campus much? A link to casserole recipes is available above; casseroles fit in the 1/2 size aluminum foil roasting pans. Print one out, supply your own pan and bring the frozen casserole to the PA freezer before Winter Break.
  Thanks in advance,
  The PA Community Service Committee

  PK works with an Upper School advsiory to make casseroles:
  

• SSFS Walks
  On Saturday, November 17th, over 150 members of the Sandy Spring Community participated in the area's Fannie Mae 5K Walk for the Homeless. Traveling in school buses from campus and gathering at the Washington, DC Mall, our group joined 30,000 others for this fundraising event. In the Washington DC area, over 14,000 men, women and children are homeless on any given day. Nationwide, families represent over 50% of the homeless population. Through the efforts of parent Glenn Rubino, $50 per SSFS participant was donated to a homeless charity by his employer, Fannie Mae. Although the final numbers have not been announced, our collective contribution is estimated to be between $8,000-$10,000. Students from all divisions, faculty, staff, parents and grandparents were part of the mix representing our school, and, at the beginning of the walk when participating organizations were announced and banners were raised, SSFS gave the loudest cheer of all. Congratulations to all who walked!

• Vocabulary Challenges to Feed the Hungry
  How can defining "abeyance" or "rhinal" help feed the hungry? The 5th grade knows, and invites you to become part of the SSFS group fighting hunger by learning about words. Click onto www.FreeRice.com to answer multiple choice vocabulary questions. For each correct answer, you earn 20 grains of rice for the hungry around the world, donated by the United Nations. Right now, the 5th grade has earned over 42,000 grains of rice. How much can you add?

  Send in your weekly (or monthly) totals, including your name and grade (or your child's grade, if you are a parent) to: alison.baker@ssfs.org. Final tabulations by School division will be computed in February and announced at our Empty Bowls banquet on February 24th.

• Community Day
  Polished buses, graveled paths, weeded gardens and many smiles were some of the results of this year's Community Service Day, held on October 10th. Split into multi-age groups, all students and faculty participated in campus clean up after a morning spent together in a beautiful walk through the woods and meeting for worship at the Sandy Spring Community Meeting House. See photos from the day here...