The Mall in Columbia Hosts Thanksgiving Food Drive for Grassroots

The Mall in Columbia is hosting a Thanksgiving Food Drive on behalf of Grassroots, Howard County’s 24-7 crisis intervention center and emergency shelter, during November, national Hunger and Homelessness Awareness month, and December.

The drive kick-off is set for Thursday, Nov. 2, 11 a.m., at The Carousel entrance on the second level of The Mall. Miss Julie and the children attending Family Fun Day will participate in the event by donating food items. The public is invited to attend.

“Most of us never worry about where our next meal is coming from nor where we will spend the night. Some of our neighbors, however, live with daily anxiety about providing for their families,” said Senior General Manager Mary Williams. “The Mall in Columbia encourages the community to celebrate the holiday season by providing meals for our neighbors at Grassroots,” she added.

In addition to food items, financial donations to Grassroots will be used to purchase meals and other items for people in the emergency shelter program. Donors can buy a dinner for $6 for regular meals and $10 for a holiday meal. Donate here.

During the last year, Grassroots served 586 people in its shelter programs and 1,159 individuals at the Grassroots Day Resource Center, handled 72,949 calls to its crisis line, and helped 3,165 individuals via face-to-face contact. The Mobile Crisis Team made 1,278 community responses, and 98 clients sought substance use disorder treatment.

Grassroots recently opened its expanded crisis intervention, mental health, substance use disorder, housing support and suicide prevention services and moved them to a new location at 8990 Old Annapolis Road, Suite A, in Columbia. Free walk-in crisis counseling is available all day, every day. For information, call 410-531-6006, or visit www.grassrootscrisis.org