By Theo Blair
There’s a chill in the air and there’s news to share, so welcome back, neighbors, to another edition of A Wider Community! We’ve had quite a busy October so far by starting the month off with our second annual Neighbor to Neighbor Night, but it wasn’t the only fun we’ve had over the previous few weeks! So settle in and kickstart your Tuesday with some stories from around our circle, including:
- Highlights from Neighbor to Neighbor Night
- Everyone wins at this year’s Battle for Bethesda
- And more!
Thanks for joining us for the night, Neighbors!
Amy Javaid, President & CEO of A Wider Circle, embraces a long-time friend of the circle.
It’s hard to believe it’s been almost two weeks since we celebrated all our community has accomplished this year at Neighbor to Neighbor Night! There were so many moments of joy, excitement, and pride as we joined together with all of you who make what we do every day possible!
Students from the Foundation for the Advancement of Music and Education.
Some of the cherished highlights of the night include recognizing and honoring the neighbors of Partnership to Independence Cohort 1 for their accomplishments as they approached their graduation from the five-year program (more on that next week!) and celebrating our honoree, Congressman Jamie Raskin. We also enjoyed the lively and lovely music that FAME provided throughout the evening, a rousing live auction courtesy of Sloans & Kenyon, and the moving story of Lorna, a neighbor served by A Wider Circle earlier this year, which you can check out below.
If you’d like to see more of the moments and memories made on Neighbor to Neighbor Night, page through our photo catalog below, or check it out here.
Finally, thank you once again to our fantastic sponsors for making the night possible!
If you missed out on this amazing evening and would still like to support our work, you can make a donation here.
B-CC Barons back A Wider Circle!
What do soccer and social justice have in common? At the end of the day, it’s all about creating stronger communities! So we were thrilled when the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Barons reached out for the second year in a row to invite us to attend the Battle of Bethesda and raise funds for our benefit!
Patricia (left) the proud parent of a B-CC Baron and Rachael (right) from A Wider Circle worked together to make the event a success!
The Battle of Bethesda is one of the annual meetings between the teams of Walt Whitman and Bethesda-Chevy Chase high schools. While the rivalry between the two schools has a heated history, the evening’s matches between the two schools’ JV and Varsity girls’ soccer teams were a positive and competitive clash, all in support of a great cause!
Both schools walked away with a win at the end of the evening, as the B-CC JV team took a 1-goal win over Whitman, and while the B-CC Varsity team battled hard and played some amazing defense, Whitman’s Varsity team scored the deciding goal in the waning moments of the game to clinch the victory!
B-CC Barons reset after Walt Whitman’s goalie successfully blocked a goal attempt.
The biggest win of the night, at least in our biased opinion, was the $2,400+ dollars that the fans in the stands donated to support our work! That’s enough to help us host ~20 mobile clothing events annually and provide professional wardrobes to 20-50 recipients at each event!
Our deepest gratitude goes out to B-CC for inviting us to be a part of the night, the fans who supported the teams and supported us, and the students for an amazing evening!
Students from both schools pose for a group picture before the game!
Rounding out the circle
Upcoming events in the community:
- Tonight! 10/17/23 7:00 – 8:30 pm Training on Giving Testimony to Elected Officials, co-hosted by A Wider Circle and Maryland Poor People’s Campaign! Register here. Virtual
- 10/20/23 6:00 – 9:00 pm Family Fun Night at Plum Gar Community Recreation Center, Germantown
- 10/21/23 11:00 am – 2:00 pm Children’s Harvest Fest & Community Resource Fair, Ward 8, DC
- 10/23/23 2:00 – 4:00 pm Job and Resume help program in-person at Brigadier General Charles E. McGee Library Silver Spring, MD
Ways to get involved:
There are plenty of ways you can support the work of A Wider Circle right now!
- Spend some time volunteering with us!
- Schedule or drop off an in-kind donation
- Support our Market Bag program
- Help restock our food pantry
- and more!
Staff Recommendations:
This week, Grant Writer Peter Merlo-Coyne recommends the Apple TV Original Series Ted Lasso. The series follows a fish-out-of-water football coach (the American kind) as he becomes the head coach of a British football club (the actual football), and the team strives to scamper and scrap their way out of relegation!
“I like it because the characters go out of their way to practice kindness with each other, despite coming from different backgrounds. There’s a deliberate focus on empathy that reminds me of A Wider Circle’s staff, clients, and volunteers.” -Peter
Furniture Finds:
This intriguing green chair makes us feel like it has stories to tell. Elegant yet simple, retro yet modern, this chair is the epitome of nostalgia!
An elegant evergreen chair that would stand out anywhere spotted in our showroom!
That’s all for this week’s edition of A Wider Community! We’ll be off next week, but back on Monday the 30th with a double stuffed edition of more stories from our wider community!
