Sandy Spring Bank – Season of Sharing

By Sandy Spring Bank

Giving Back to the Community Where We Live and Work

At Sandy Spring Bank, we have deep roots in the community. We are committed to giving back to our local neighbors and one way we do this is through our annual Season of Sharing. Our 2015 Season of Sharing is in full swing, and today we will highlight one of the 12 organizations that we’ve partnered with to help reach our neighbors in need across Maryland, Virginia and D.C.

growingSOUL is a new non-profit in Montgomery County, Maryland, and we’re thrilled to partner with them for the first time this year. Everything growingSOUL does is aimed at building stronger communities – just like Sandy Spring Bank. We are also both dedicated to bringing local partners together in an effort to make a more cohesive community.

growingSOUL works to create a zero waste sustainable food system. Their cycle begins by gathering over 150 tons of food waste from local restaurants and businesses each year including, Elysian Energy, Green Plate Catering, Hollywood East Cafe, Ricciuti’s Restaurant, Sidwell Friends School, and the Takoma Park Silver Spring Coop. The food waste is used to make a compost/soil mixture, in which they grow organic, locally sourced produce. They work with several local farms including Button Farm, Chicano Sol, Chocolate & Tomatoes Farm, Clark’s Farm, Green Life Farm at Sherwood High School, Orchard Breeze Farm, and Sandy Spring Friends School Community Farm.

Once matured, the vegetables are harvested, prepared into stocks, soups and stews, and delivered back to the community. These fresh products will then be given directly to local families in need and organizations such as Arleeta’s Pantry, Community Food Rescue, Community Visions, Nourish Now, Shepherd’s Table, and more.

Our employees are looking forward to rolling up their sleeves and making fresh food for those in need from an often overlooked source: pumpkins. Every year after Halloween, thousands of unused pumpkins go to waste locally, so our employees will help keep these gourds out of landfills and put them to good use as roasted pumpkin seeds, pumpkin purees, and more.

At Sandy Spring Bank, we are an organization of employees from the local community and our clients are community members, too. We are consistently bolstering the community by supporting new small businesses and non-profits, like growingSOUL, and by giving back with volunteer time. We’re proud of growingSOUL, the work they’re doing in the community, and the work we are doing to support them.

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