AROUND THE PARK AGAIN by Sharon Lee Tegler
In its fourth year, the Good Neighborhoods Group’s 4th annual S(o)UPER BOWL FOOD DRIVE broke all previous records.
From the moment the “game was on” for the 2021 food drive taking place from February 4 though 7, donations rolled in as never before.
In addition to the original 36 Severna Park communities participating in the food drive, nine new ones from the Broaneck Peninsula joined the effort bringing the total to 44.
Over the course of four days, the neighborhood captains volunteering their homes as collection points found donations of food and household items spilling across every unoccupied space – from bins on back porches to kitchen counters, dining room tables, living room or bedroom floors to garages.
Families collected an astonishing 21,000 items that almost tripled previous records. Children, like Jace Kerley, whose mother Bethany was neighborhood captain for Chartridge, pitched in to help her sort canned goods to donate to SPAN. Mackenzie Grossman and her younger brother Emerson helped carry things as their father Jeremiah, neighborhood captain for Olde Severna Park, packed donations into the family SUV.
Delivery day, set for Super Bowl Sunday but postponed to the following two days due to weather, saw the neighborhood volunteers heading to six different food pantries to drop off donations. The goods were transported in vehicles ranging from SUVs to trucks to red wagons and personally delivered bins.
Neighborhoods on the Severn River side of Severna Park normally drop off their donations to SPAN, Inc. off Benfield Road while those living on the Magothy River side give their donations to ACAN (Asbury Church Assistance Network) on Asbury Drive. But there were so many more donations that My Brother’s Pantry in Arnold was added as a drop-off for neighborhoods on the Broadneck Peninsula. In addition, extra donations flowed to two Pop-Up Pantries and to LARS (Laurel Advocacy & Referral Services).
Multiple neighborhoods delivered donations to ACAN which were gratefully accepted by Executive Director Margo Arnoux. ACAN currently operates a Drive-Through pick-up of food boxes (in keeping with COVID-19 guidelines) Monday through Wednesday from 10 am to 2 pm.
Multiple neighborhoods on the Severn Side donated to SPAN. In fact, there were so many donations headed for SPAN that some were channeled to LARS and the Pop Up pantries mentioned previously).
The 2021 S(o)UPER BOWL FOOD DRIVES’ saw four neighborhoods bringing in 1,000 donated items each. Congratulations are due for Cape McKinsey with over 12 items donated per household. And kudos to the Round Bay and West Severna Park neighborhoods who brought in 1500 items each.
In the past, the reveal for the winning neighborhoods took place at a dinner hosted by Mezzanotte. It was a community night that benefited GNG, too. This year, Mezzanotte will deliver pre-ordered meals to the winning neighborhoods and include complimentary cannolis. Ten percent of the proceeds will be donated back to support Good Neighbors Group.
Founder and executive director Julie Shay started the Good Neighbors Group in 2006 and incorporated it as a non-profit in 2017 with a goal of strengthening our communities by sharing service opportunities that have a positive social and environmental impact. She and the GMG board of directors hit on the idea for a Souper Bowl food drive in 2018 because they realized winter is a time when food pantry shelves need replenishing. They initially proposed a competition between the east and west sides of Severna Park but expanded the plan when so many communities responded.
The food drive is but one of Good Neighbors Group’s community based initiatives. In addition to year-round blood drives in cooperation with Anne Arundel Medical Center, there are seasonal projects. The group also supports environmental efforts. They launched a spring project to establish and tend a garden of sustainable native plants along the B&A Trail opposite the Ranger Station. They’ve held several Earth Day events at community schools with as many as 60 schools participating with exhibits. In summer, GNG promotes a swim team food drive.
During a time of extensive development and population growth that, ironically, contributes to a sense of isolation in the once close-knit Severna Park community, GNG strives to bring all the neighborhoods together in ways that benefit everyone. For more information on GNG’s ongoing projects and events visit its website at Home – Good Neighbors Group or follow them on Facebook at Good Neighbors Group | Facebook.
