On Thursday Nov. 30, members of the community gathered at the local Homestead Gardens to participate in the annual ‘Holiday Girls Night Out.’ The free event was sponsored by the Greater Severna Park Mother’s Club.

Guests were invited to get inspired by the holiday decor on display inside the store, receive exclusive discounts on holiday items, eat sample dishes from local restaurants and enjoy live music from musician Dan Haas. All proceeds collected from the beer and wine served, as well as the tips collected, went to benefit Sarah’s House, the GSPMC chosen charity.

Sarah’s House is a homeless shelter located in Fort Meade that primarily focuses on serving mothers and children, although they do accept families as well. Sarah’s House has also been providing legal, financial, employment, mental health and substance abuse services to struggling families for nearly three decades. Over 1.6 million meals have been served at Sarah’s House since their opening in 1987. “We serve between 550 and 600 people a year, with 60 percent of those being children,” Kathryn Philliben, director of Sarah’s House, said. “Our objective is to assist families who are experiencing difficulty to become stable and self sufficient, and that will make them able to return to the community. We try very hard to help our folks get jobs, we provide life skills workshops for them on a daily basis.”

The GSPMC has been doing charitable work since its establishment in 1983. They also host family friendly events, weekly playgroups and adult events. “We are based out of Severna Park but we have moms from all over the surrounding area,” GSPMC member, Heather Major, said. “We are just a group of moms that get together, try to have fun and do some good.”

Enrollment for the GSPMC 2017-2018 season has already begun, although it is ongoing throughout the year. The season runs from September through June. Anyone interested in joining should visit GSPMC.wildapricot.org for more information.

Anyone that is looking to support Sarah’s House can contact Kathryn Philliben by email at [email protected] or by telephone at 667-600-3560 ext. 13560.