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Generously helping the disadvantaged and disenfranchised in the community attain self-sufficiency and independence since 1983

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On November 21, 2025 the "Food 4 Families" campaign, hosted by NBC4 Washington and Telemundo 44 Washington, granted Adventist Community Services of Greater Washington (ACSGW) in Silver Spring, Md., 50 Thanksgiving turkeys, including sides. Allegheny East Conference's Metropolitan church in Hyattsville, Md., also received 50 baskets. These donations were facilitated by the Capital Area Food Bank. Additional support was provided by the Montgomery County government and the City of Takoma Park.

Terry Seamens and Victor Kindo, ACSGW board members, joined Nancy Lamoreaux and Joyce Seamens, ACSGW interim co-director and pantry manager, respectively, as they accepted these generous gifts.

This holiday, more than 1,000 families who were in need of meals previously submitted requests for a Thanksgiving basket.

Joyce reports, “This is a full 30 percent increase from historical averages over the past six years."

Lamoreaux explains, “I have been co-director for a month and have been troubled with the weekly increase in neighbors seeking food assistance.”

Ken Flemmer, interim co-director, adds, “The unneeded suspension of some basic services generated high levels of true stress for many across the region. The impasse seems to have concluded, but the damage inflicted on many neighbours is troubling and will linger way too long.”

At the "Food for Families" event, the John C. Flood team granted ACSGW $3,000 to assist a family who was in need of HVAC services (pictured).

ACSGW thanks all of its supporters, including members from the Sligo and Takoma Park churches Takoma Park, Md., as well as the Silver Spring Food Group for the generous Thanksgiving baskets during the food collection drives.

ACSGW also offers a diaper program, supported by the Greater DC Diaper Bank, and a free “Thrift Store."

Nancy Lamoreaux and Ken Flemmer
Co-Directors

Congratulations to the middle school students who participated in the pilot test for ACSGW’s Making Tracks Academy!

Santhiago Ruiz was the first to complete a pilot of science experiment videos launched by the Making Tracks Academic Enrichment Program.
The science experiment videos are among nearly a dozen made by Washington Adventist University undergraduate science majors in Professor Melinda Villanueva’s biology class. Our upcoming newsletter will give you further details on this online learning enterprise.

Go check out this learning system by clicking the button below.

CHECKOUT MAKING TRACKS ACADEMY

Monetary donations can be made using the button below. After entering the donation amount you can choose to specify the donation for "Resettlement".

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Thanks for welcoming and helping our newest neighbors.

Thank You for Your Continuing Support

Because of you, 830 families in the greater Takoma Park area received a Thanksgiving basket.

YOU ARE MORE ESSENTIAL THAN EVER!

THANK YOU for continuing to support ACSGW!

4P Driver Phil, ACSGW Food Program Manager Joyce, and ACSGW Director John Gavin with the delivery of veggie boxes

ACSGW Client Services Team Show the Veggie Box Content

A Food Insecurity Grant from the City of Takoma Park and a Montgomery County Community Food Assistance grant provided the funding support needed to provide ACSGW food participants with substantially more nutritional food.

Special thanks to the Montgomery County Food Council and the Capital Area Community Food Bank for their continued assistance in identifying sources of fresh, high quality food.

Who Are We

Adventist Community Services of Greater Washington (ACSGW) was established in 1983 as the collective health and welfare service of several local church congregations. Today, ACSGW is a faith-based, non-profit, organization whose mission helps those less fortunate in our community.

We are a team of donors, community partners, staff, and volunteers who empower those in need through compassionate emergency care, life education, and community development. ACSGW currently provides food, diapers, free thrift shop, youth development, health and fitness, technology education, and workforce skills.

We invite you to join the team at Adventist Community Services in serving the community and help implement this rewarding mission.

You Can Share in the ACSGW Mission and Help Make Miracles

Faithful donors and partners enable food distribution at the ACSGW centre and at satellite locations in the Silver Spring area.

Generous donors and organisations in the community continue to join to allow ACSGW to more than quadruple its service to the food-insecure during this pandemic! The help families are getting in many cases is a matter of their survival.

A Gift for You

Download a free guide that will help pivot you through the changes that Covid-19 has brought and will continue to bring to your life

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Programs That ACSGW Donors and Supporters Make Possible

Snapshot Program Updates

Diaper Distribution Program: As a regional hub for the DC diaper bank we provide a monthly supply of diapers to program participants and other baby products, serving hundreds of families in Montgomery County each week. Diaper donations allow us to serve a limited number of families living outside of Montgomery County.

Care Kits/Hygiene Kits – Mothers enrolled in our diaper assistance program receive a supply of feminine hygiene pads, shampoo, soap, a razor, a toothbrush and toothpaste.

Healthy Child 1000 Initiative: Good nutrition from conception to age 2 (roughly 1000 days) is critical to the development of the infant. Expectant mothers and mothers with babies under 1 year of age can enrol to get hygiene items, diapers and weaning foods.

Food Pantry: Is stocked with in-kind donations, food rescue from local supermarkets, Capital Area Food Bank, and Manna.

Assistance

The ACSGW team helps stabilize families in need. Even in normal times, many of our neighbors struggle to make ends meet. They often struggle to clothe themselves and their families, put food on the table, and find the resources they need to exist, let alone survive, in our fast-moving society.

In this time of high inflation, your donations and help can literally mean survival.

Emergency Relief - Food and Diapers

This is a challenging time as families struggle with sharp increases in costs for all essentials. We need your continued support for the Inflation Emergency Relief Crisis Fund to help our community and neighbors. ACSGW provides food baskets, hygiene items, and diapers to help people better care for basic family needs. ACSGW is known for its compassion, inclusiveness and responsiveness and has given hope and help to many hundreds of families during challenging times.

In addition to financial support, ACSGW accepts donations of shelf stable foods, hygiene items, and diapers (most needed size 5-6). Donations can be brought to 501 Sligo Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910, Monday-Thursday 8am-4 pm or dropped in the blue collection bins at other times.

If you are needing food assistance or want to enroll in the Healthy Child 1000 Program: Call 301 585 6556 Monday-Thursday 9am-3pm or email acsgwinfo@acsgw.org with a call back number to enroll and make an appointment.

Emergency Relief - Clothing

During this cold winter weather our clothes “closet” is open outside to distribute free warm clothing including coats, gloves, scarves, socks, and other items to protect against the winter weather.

The team at ACSGW is working hard to make sure that items contributed by our community are available to our clients. If you need something you do not see outside, feel free to ask one of our staff or volunteers and they will do their best to help you.

Youth Programs

ACSGW recognizes that youth from low-income, under-served families consistently score lower on academic tests. In 2014, ACSGW began developing an academic enrichment program for youth to meet the needs of under-served communities in our area. The result was ACSGW’s Making Tracks Academic Enrichment Program (MTAEP). The MTAEP is a nationally recognized program offered by ACSGW and its community partners. Part of this program provides vital academic instruction, hands-on visual and performing arts classes, fitness and recreational activities, and essential life-skill training as part of a free summer camp. In addition, camp participants receive daily breakfast and lunch meals, as well as take-home weekend food packages that contain grocery items in quantities sufficient for family meals, such as grains, beans, nutritious vegetables and fruits, and packages of individual snack foods.

ACSGW continues to develop youth programs and has recently launched our online Making Tracks Academy. Click here for more details on the (Hyperlink - Making Tracks Academy) and watch this space and our (Hyperlink – FB Page) frequently for information on upcoming programs.  

Your help is needed to deliver programs to marginalized youth and their families in Silver Spring, Takoma Park, and other Montgomery County communities as we continue to invest in their future.

Education

Under Construction

Health and Wellness

Exercise and the life skill of swimming is important to all of us. ACSGW contracts with the Montgomery County Government to operate the public swimming pool in the Piney Branch Elementary School. ACSGW also regularly conducts health screenings and provides health-related workshops throughout the community.

Click here for pool schedule and fees.

Other Programs

When the needs of our clients cannot be met with ACSGW programs - referrals are made. During the case management process clients are interviewed to understand their needs and qualifications for various assistance programs with other non-profit and government organizations. With this information, it assists clients in finding resources to aid them in difficult times.

*Our education, Health and Wellness, Youth Programs and Other Programs that are greyed out are operating on a limited basis.

Our Team

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