by Laurie Taylor Mitchell.

The Annual Spring Drive of the Student Support Network will take place tomorrow and Saturday (April 5-6, 2019) at the St. Thomas Episcopal Church. Download the Annual Spring Drive flyer to see what’s needed, and please consider supporting this worthy cause!

The Student Support Network improves the lives of Baltimore County students in poverty by providing food, other basic necessities, and advocacy support.  The Student Support Network began as the Loch Raven Network, a project created by Laurie Taylor-Mitchell in December of 2015 to assist students at Loch Raven High School. In that month, 128 volunteers donated food, hundreds of gifts, winter clothing, and over $6000 in monetary donations for 25 families.

The Loch Raven Network became a non-profit (501(c)(3) organization in 2016. The change to the Student Support Network resulted from expanding programs into other schools to include Loch Raven High School, Parkville High School, Pine Grove Middle School, and Loch Raven Technical Academy. The Student Support network receives assistance from local churches, businesses, community groups, foundations, and individual volunteers who have donated funds, in-kind  donations, and their time to the Network.

The 2018 Fall Drive generated $2,000 in monetary donations and over $8,000 in in-kind donations of non-perishable food, personal care items, school supplies, and new clothing.  We hope to surpass these amounts and have already increased the number of schools participating (19 schools had volunteers for the Big Fall Drive).

We have 20 schools whose students will benefit from the Spring Drive:

Bedford ES
Campfield Early Learning Center
Judy Center
Carroll Manor ES
Cockeysville MS
Dumbarton MS
Essex ES
Fullerton ES
Loch Raven HS
Loch Raven Technical Academy
Oakleigh ES
Padonia International ES
Parkville HS
Perry Hall ES
Pine Grove MS
Pleasant Plains ES
Pot Spring ES
Ridgely MS
Woodmoor ES
Hillcrest MS

Questions/Can you volunteer? Please Jan Bahner.