Gearing Up For Holiday Caring Program, SPAN Is Seeking Meal And Gift Sponsors

As the team at SPAN (Serving People Across Neighborhoods) is preparing for the nonprofit’s annual Holiday Caring program, they are seeking volunteers to sponsor families in need with meals and gifts.

There are several opportunities to support the campaign: Community members can sponsor a Thanksgiving meal, Christmas gifts for children, or a holiday dinner. For Thanksgiving, SPAN is accepting either grocery gift cards or dinner boxes filled with canned goods for traditional sides and desserts along with a $25-$30 grocery gift card for meat. For Christmas meals, due to space limitations, SPAN can only accept grocery gift cards. Individual instructions for sponsoring Christmas gifts for a child are provided upon signing up.

Last year, SPAN provided holiday meals and gifts to 500 children and their families. Everyone supported through the Holiday Caring program is an existing client of SPAN who previously came to the organization in need of food or emergency financial assistance.

Maia Grabau, SPAN’s director of operations, oversees the Holiday Caring program. She shared that many of the recipients are single mothers. Last year, two moms were not only facing financial challenges but also battling cancer. Grabau added that in 2024, SPAN was also able to help a single mother of six children, all of whom had developmental disabilities. She came to SPAN just before it closed for Christmas in need of assistance with a utility bill, and Grabau was able to offer her a few leftover presents and gift cards for her kids, which brought her to tears.

Some of the families SPAN hopes to support this year with the community’s help are facing significant hardships. Sponsors who can “go the extra mile” may be able to help bless the parents with a gift or gift card as well.

“It is a huge blessing to be able to spread some joy to families like these,” Grabau emphasized.

To participate in the Holiday Caring program for Thanksgiving or Christmas, email Grabau directly at spanhelps@yahoo.com for detailed instructions or to be matched with a family.

All holiday donations should be dropped off at Our Shepherd Lutheran Church in Severna Park. Thanksgiving meals and gift cards will be collected on Monday, November 17, and Christmas gifts and meal gift cards will be collected on Sunday, December 14.

Learn more about SPAN at www.spanhelps.org.