All the organizations on our list have been recommended by the Greater Washington Community Foundation, Spur Local or the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. The nonprofits provided a description of their work and ideas for ways to help. Our complete online listing includes more than 100 local charities. If an organization offers Student Service Learning (SSL) hours or internships we noted that under volunteer opportunities.
Read our lists by category here:
- Feed the Hungry
- Build Housing Opportunities
- Help Someone Heal
- Inspire Local Youth
- Pave the Path to College
- Spark Someone’s Imagination
- Strengthen the Safety Net
- Grow a Greener Tomorrow
- More Ways to Give
Here are four stories about how the nonprofits in Bethesda Magazine’s 2024 Guide to Giving have helped locals thrive through nutrition, musical inspiration, physical fitness and providing shelter.
AfriThrive
Elizabeth Kilwake was born in Kenya and raised by a single mother who taught her five children how to farm. When she moved to the United States in 1983, Kilwake brought seeds with her so she could continue to grow her favorite vegetables.
Kilwake, 62, lives in Silver Spring and has three children, three grandchildren and a garden in her backyard with a variety of plants that are important in Kenya, such as managu (a leafy green) and cowpeas (a kind of legume). She says the produce reminds her of home as well as being flavorful and nutritious.
A few years ago, Kilwake discovered AfriThrive, a Silver Spring-based nonprofit that grows and distributes food, including vegetables commonly found in Africa. The organization works to provide culturally appropriate food, encourage healthy lifestyles, and engage clients in education programs to promote independence.
Kilwake received some food assistance and then began to volunteer at Afri-Thrive’s weekly mobile food pantry and help at its community farm in Poolesville.
“Giving food to other families has really lifted me emotionally and physically, knowing that I’m reaching out and making a difference,” Kilwake says. “I see women who started getting vegetables two years ago … and I see the change in their health.”
It can be difficult for new arrivals in the U.S. to adapt to the American diet, says Truphena Choti, the founder of AfriThrive. Access to familiar food can help them ease the transition, she says.
“I came as a young mother and remember struggling to find the right food for my children,” says Choti, 54, who lives in Aspen Hill and is originally from Kenya. “They didn’t want pasta or pizza.”
Her experience led her to start community gardening and sharing her produce with others. After working in international nonprofits for years, Choti says she launched AfriThrive to serve immigrants in need in the Washington, D.C., area.
Every Friday, AfriThrive staff and volunteers fill nearly 250 grocery bags with its fresh vegetables and donations from food banks, including Manna Food Center’s warehouse in Gaithersburg and DC Central Kitchen in the District. People pick up the bags at Renewed Seventh-day Adventist Church in Aspen Hill.
In addition to its food pantry and beginner farming programs, the organization connects clients with social services. AfriThrive partners with professionals to offer workshops on financial literacy, credit building and entrepreneurship. Its small business development program teaches skills in business planning, management, marketing and sustainability.
Kilwake’s involvement in AfriThrive has given her a sense of community. “I belong to a group that does what I love doing,” she says. “I grew up on a farm … we plow, we plant, we harvest, we eat. So it has connected me to people that also love farming in America.” —Caralee Adams
Boulanger Initiative
When a guest speaker at Bethesda’s Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart asked students the first names of classical composers listed on her T-shirt, Amelia Taylor was eager to answer.
“I had just done a summer program where I had taken music history, so I was ready to flex, and my hand shot right up,” Taylor recalls. “I started naming all the male names and [the speaker] goes, ‘OK, what about the women?’ ”
The presenter shared that Felix Mendelssohn had a talented composer sister named Fanny. Mozart’s wife, Constanze, was an accomplished musician, and Mozart’s sister was a child prodigy who wrote music.
“You automatically think of the men, but the women were just as important—or could have been—if they had been given voices,” Taylor says. “That really inspired me to learn more.”
This was all part of a series hosted by the Boulanger Initiative, when different women musicians came to the private girls school over a few weeks to give talks during Taylor’s junior year.
It was an eye-opening and motivational experience, says Taylor, 18, who lives in Potomac. She started a double degree program in creative writing and vocal performance this fall at Johns Hopkins University and the Peabody Conservatory. Her college decision was influenced by hearing female performers share their professional experiences in the Boulanger talks, she says.
“I was really struck by how all of them had communities around them of other women that they were working with. … There were unspoken bonds, and everybody is helping each other,” Taylor says. “It showed me that even though a career in the arts is really difficult, it is very possible.”
The Boulanger Initiative is all about advocating for women in music through education and research. The nonprofit organization based in Takoma Park hosts school programs to build awareness of gender representation, sponsors concerts showcasing female musicians, and maintains a database of works by women composers. It was established in 2018.
Laura Colgate, 41, and Joy-Leilani Garbutt, 42, both professional musicians, are the organization’s founders. They named it after sisters Nadia and Lili Boulanger, two 20th century classical musicians who broke gender barriers. The co-founders each had done research separately for their doctoral dissertations, unearthing a wealth of amazing music by women composers that wasn’t known or being performed, Colgate says.
Only about 8% of music played by the biggest orchestras in the U.S. is by female composers, Colgate says. While small strides were being made to expand inclusivity, the pair saw a need for a hub organization to coordinate efforts.
“We have so far to go, but we’re really seeing from all corners of the industry that people want to do this work,” Colgate says about highlighting the contributions of women composers. “To be able to find a resource where we can get you moving is invaluable, and we’re seeing a huge hunger for it.” —Caralee Adams
Girls on the Run
Abigail Rivas says she was nervous about joining an after-school running team. “I didn’t like running until I got to Girls on the Run,” says Abigail, a fifth grader at Watkins Mill Elementary School in Montgomery Village. “I learned that running is really good for you, and it’s fun at the same time.”
Abigail mentions the practices, being with friends and the satisfaction of completing a 5K each season as reasons she’s enjoyed being part of Girls on the Run, a nonprofit organization with a local chapter based in Rockville. She likes to sprint to the finish line of a race even though she knows she’ll be tired and her legs might shake afterward.
“I do it for fun and I smile—even if I’m dying, I smile,” says Abigail, 10. She often runs with her mom, Francess Rivas, a wellness trainer at Watkins Mill and volunteer coach with Girls on the Run, which begins in third grade. Rivas, 37, is a marathoner who set track records in her home country of Bolivia before moving to the U.S. as a teenager. She says she has a passion for running that she tries to pass on to the girls—along with other life lessons.
“We try to empower our girls and tell them how important they are,” Rivas says. She encourages girls who’ve never run to start by walking and slowly push themselves. Before the girls lace up their shoes for practice, they follow activities provided by Girls on the Run that cover friendship and other topics to develop their social-emotional skills. Once on the track, the volunteer coaches, who are parents and teachers, get creative to make it fun. For instance, they might have half the girls do laps in one direction and half in the other so they can high-five each other as they pass.
“I tell the parents it’s not just exercise. We are trying to teach the girls to be more independent and feel strong,” Rivas says.
In Montgomery County, Girls on the Run offers 10-week programs in the fall and spring for girls through eighth grade at public and private schools. Typically, there are about 100 teams each season and about a third of the girls receive financial aid (with money raised from contributions from individuals, sponsors and grants) to participate, according to Bethesda’s Elizabeth McGlynn, executive director. While the goal is to complete a 5K at the end of the season, the program focuses on the positive development of the whole child, she says.
“It’s running with a purpose,” McGlynn says. “It’s about building these girls’ confidence and giving them the tools to navigate through adulthood.”
Rivas says she’s seen her daughter improve as a runner and become a leader, recruiting and welcoming new girls to the team.
For Abigail, her Girls on the Run experience has motivated her go out for track and cross-country in middle school—and aspire to become an Olympian. “I don’t like that most kids are like, ‘Girls are slow. They can’t do anything,’” Abigail says. “I want to show them I can go fast.” —Caralee Adams
Stepping Stones Shelter
Khrystal Wallace says she’s had some ups and downs in her life, but never had a problem getting a job. However, when she moved from Kentucky to Maryland to take care of her sick mother in 2021, she couldn’t find work.
Wallace and her two children eventually were experiencing homelessness. After moving in and out of various hotels and shelters in Montgomery County, the 32-year-old says she was able to turn things around thanks to Stepping Stones Shelter. The shelter is a historic 5,500-square-foot farmhouse in Rockville. It typically houses six families that share common areas, including a kitchen and large backyard. About 95% of families move on to stable housing within 90 days, according to the shelter’s website.
“They don’t make you feel like you’re in a shelter. They make you feel like you’re home,” Wallace says of the nonprofit, which provides emergency shelter, food and case management.
At Stepping Stones, Wallace says she found support and a sense of community. The staff listened to her needs as they helped her navigate the job market and get on solid financial footing. She says she formed lasting friendships with some of the other residents. “I reminded myself that I am not my situation. And this too shall pass,” Wallace says. “I have to do better for not only my children, but for me first, because I have to do better for me in order to do better for them.”
Wallace eventually landed a full-time job as a security guard and moved her family into an apartment in Rockville. She has stayed in touch with Stepping Stones, which offers post-shelter support services. Wallace also volunteers at the shelter—speaking at workshops and cooking for residents.
“I’ve been in the situation of these young women and men,” Wallace says. “I want to show them that, ‘Hey. I was here two years ago. My first year transitioning out wasn’t easy.’ … I like that I’m able to give back, and I bring my children with me.”
Stepping Stones, which was established in 1982, works closely with the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services to connect with people in need of assistance. “We provide more than a bed to sleep in,” says Stacey Gold, Stepping Stones’ executive director. “Every family is assessed for what their barriers are [and] a treatment or case plan is formulated that targets each person’s individual barriers to achieving housing.”
The shelter connects families with resources such as job coaching, mental health care, legal services, and classes on employment skills and the English language. The organization offers tutoring for children, and workshops on parenting, budgeting and wellness. “We really focus on the strengths of the families and we use a trauma-informed approach,” Gold says. “We’re not interested in making the situation a punitive one. We want to lift, inspire and help where we can.” —Caralee Adams
This story appears in the November/December 2024 issue of Bethesda Magazine.
