Goodwill Dinner 2020 – The Evolution!

For 32 years the Bethesda community, led by Hyatt Regency Bethesda and the Greater Bethesda Chamber of Commerce along with the BCC Rescue Squad, have made a tradition out of celebrating the holidays with those in our community who need a little extra.  Unfortunately, the onset of COVID-19 has made that need greater and more urgent than in years past.  However, we knew we didn’t want to do the same thing in the name of tradition when the need and resources were more different than ever.  Through our connections in the area came…

 
The Solution!
A few weeks ago, St. John’s Norwood Episcopal Church reached out with a way for us to serve those we serve every December as well as more of those who find themselves food insecure, possibly for the first time because of COVID-19.  St. John’s had already aligned with the BCC Rescue Squad as a location for distribution and had partnered with Nourish Now to get food in the hands of those who need it on a weekly basis.  Now, instead of a one-time celebration, we have the wonderful opportunity to feed our community every single week.  This distribution happens every Friday from 1pm – 3pm and includes the following:  THREE hot cooked meals from a local restaurant, dairy products and fresh produce along with non-perishables; enough to keep a family of four fed for about a week!  This new endeavor is called Nourishing Bethesda…and the GBCC involvement in the endeavor is called the Goodwill Dinner Coalition.

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Goodwill Dinner 2018

Goodwill Coalition 2020

Goodwill Coalition 2020

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​Your Inclusion!
How can you help?  And we NEED you!
There are three major ways we need the Bethesda community to continue supporting the Goodwill Dinner Coalition.
 

• Financial Support – while we really don’t like to lead with this need it is very real.  Some businesses and individuals have been faring extremely well through this crisis; and that is WONDERFUL. However, there are many around us who are incredibly food insecure and to that end we need your help.  The total expense for this community assistance is roughly $125K.  These dollars are given to the restaurants who prepare the food either at or below cost and then get them to us for distribution.  So far, Nourish Now and St. John’s Norwood along with a few donors have been covering this cost.  If you can donate, please make a 501©3 donation at the link here (choose ‘Help the Helpers’ in the drop down box and indicate ‘Nourishing Bethesda’ in the comment box).  Also, SHARE this with your networks.  If you or your business can’t give at this time, maybe someone in your network can!

• Volunteer Support – We are planning to continue the above efforts until at least February.  Sign ups are open now and volunteers can sign up now for any week in the upcoming months.  As we have been doing this now for going on two months, the need for volunteers is increasing as kinks are worked out.  Please go here and sign up now to serve alongside us soon!

• December – while we acknowledge the need to shift and evolve in light of the crisis, we don’t want to completely lose tradition.  The Goodwill Dinner Coalition is working hard to determine how we can still make our mark on the guests during the month of December.  We aren’t sure fully what that will look like but we have put together a special team led by Chiqui Laboy to determine how the December boxes can have the Goodwill touch on them.

 
THANK YOU in advance for supporting and coming alongside those in the community who need us.  Consider it a Christmas in August through February – with so many opportunities to impact the lives around us.
- The Goodwill Dinner Coalition