Martha's Outfitters Film by Jon Haas

The Teen Program Gets a Face Lift

Today, the Teen Program began a 2 day painting project to bring in the New Year with a fresh new look. They chose the colors and design, and are now hard at work making over the space.
Finished product coming soon!

The Holiday Season at Martha's Table

The Holiday Season is a very special time of year at Martha's Table. The community is focused on helping those in need over the holidays. Even in these rough economic times, we have had an overwhelming amount of support with people contacting us to volunteer and donate in unique ways.
Local neighbors and businesses have helped in many different ways this year and holiday season. 1000's of volunteers have volunteered their time. Staff from PricewaterhouseCoopers volunteer at Martha's Table every Thursday and really helped out during our Winter Holiday Community Dinner and Pantry Thursday's this year. Many individuals have energized their offices to coordinate food drives for Martha's Table's emergency food services. Schools and churches have been collecting hats, gloves, scarves and coats for our clothing distribution center, Martha's Outfitters. Many families are volunteering in their homes by making peanut butter & jelly sandwiches or meat & cheese sandwiches and bringing them into Martha's Table.

Our Children's programs are also celebrating this holiday season. Just last night they performed a play, Christmas Around the World, for their Christmas Pageant.

Recently, Office of Human Resources Management, Benefits, Medical and Worklife Division came to Martha's Table with gifts for all the children in our Daycare program. Pictured above, the children are having an early Christmas thanks to all the generous staff.

The Washington Post put out an article today, highlighting corporations that stepped up to help the neediest in a rough 2009. Note the photo: a longtime volunteer, Linda, sorts linens in Martha's Outfitters.
The Washington Post

We thank everyone who has participated in helping the community this year. Even though so many have generously donated we still need help. We are always in need of non-perishable food items. There is a list posted on our website in the wishlist section. wwwmarthastable.org

We are also in need of volunteer drivers for McKenna's Wagon. Every evening, McKenna's Wagon rolls out to 3 different locations around DC. We could not do this without the help of our dedicated volunteer drivers. Drivers must make a 6 month commitment and have a valid drivers license. The vans leave at 5pm and return around 6:30.
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer driver, please contact:
Kimberly Lyons
Development and Volunteer Manager
Martha's Table
202.328.6608 x 232
klyons@marthastable.org

Former Member of Our Teen Program Makes it BIG!

The nominations for the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards were announced late November, and among the nominees in the category Best Musical Album for Children is Banjo to Beatbox Cathy & Marcy with Special Guest Christylez Bacon.

We at Martha’s Table know Chris well. He participated in our Teen Program in 2004 and 2005, and has come back to Martha’s Table to work with the teens on various aspects of music production during the past several summers. Banjo to Beatbox, a collaboration with Chris, Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxner, is described as “beatbox (mouth drums) meets the banjo, nursery rhyme meets hip-hop fractured fairy tale and traditional folk song meets a whole new sound!”

All of us at Martha’s Table will be rooting for Chris come Grammy time next February. Chris already has the votes from one group of fans. Simone Johnson, the Director of our Child Development Center tells us that the toddlers and pre-schoolers in the program have been listening to the CD and have been dancing up a storm.

To hear snippets of the songs and to buy a copy of the CD, please visit http://www.cathymarcy.com/store/.

Listen to this!