Community Service

MCPSRA has many volunteers who are involved in a variety of community service activities such as the following.

Montgomery County Volunteer Center and Retired and Senior Volunteer Program; 240-777-2600; www.montgomerycountymd.gov/volunteer
Montgomery County Boards, Committees, etc.; 240-777-2528; www.montgomerycountymd.gov/boards
Interages; 301-949-3551; www.interages.org
Mental Health Association of Montgomery County; 301-424-0656; www.mhamc.org
Literacy Council of Montgomery County, MD; 301-640-0030; www.literacycouncilmcmd.org
Maryland Department of Aging Senior Call Center; 866-502-0560; aging.maryland.gov

Described below are two of our special long term projects.

Toolkit Project

Toolkits are lidded plastic shoe boxes containing a

variety of school supplies that are distributed to all Title

I summer school kindergartners as well as Head Start

students for use at home to support their learning at

school. The project was initiated by MCPSRA in 2003

to help economically disadvantaged elementary school

children who attend the Title I Extended Learning

Opportunities Summer Adventures in Learning (ELO SAIL)

Program. It has grown from one benefiting 800 students

the first year to 2,000 children during the summer of 2018.

Since the project began approximately 20,000 toolkits

have been assembled and distributed. The cost per

toolkit is approximately $15. Once the kits are assembled

and distributed to each summer school site, in-service

training sessions for parents are offered by Title I staff to

help parents learn how to best use with their children the

items and lesson plans provided in the toolkits. This project

has achieved local, state, and national recognition and many

awards including a national one from NRTA/AARP entitled

With Our Youth! Excellence Award.

See the attached PDF for a description of the Josiah Henson Project.

Report to the MCPSRA Board of Directors on the progress of the Project at monthly meetings.
Report to the Membership at the quarterly luncheons regarding the progress of the project.
Encourage the membership to donate to the Josiah Henson Project.
Write articles for the quarterly newsletter about the project. and encourage donations.
Work with staff who work on the project to make presentations at the luncheons when requested by the Board of Directors.
Consult with the Treasurer of MCPSRA to determine the amount of contributions.

For a video displaying the ongoing construction of the Josiah Henson Education Center, copy this link to your browser: https://youtu.be/QESZGnq1qSU