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The Rockville Singers and the Rockville Chorus are set to offer two concerts of holiday music this season.

The Rockville Singers, a 25-member outreach ensemble of the Rockville Chorus that performs at a variety of venues throughout the year, will present an afternoon of carols and holidays favorites at 2:15 p.m. Sunday at Glenview Mansion as part of the city's annual holiday open houses.

The Glenview Mansion is located at 603 West Edmonston Drive.

The Rockville Chorus will perform at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 20 at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre on the grounds of Rockville Civic Center Park.

Rockville Chorus Director Bryan Seith has chosen a wide variety of selections with a holiday theme that will appeal to all ages and musical tastes, the chorus reported.

The concert is free and tickets are not required. Donations would be accepted.

The Rockville Chorus features 70 members and has performed for more than 30 years.

New members are always welcome and can schedule an audition by calling Julie Farrell at 240-314-8682.

Lots of turkey

IBM Corporation launched its 39th annual Project Thanksgiving effort, providing 1,200 Thanksgiving dinners to needy Washington, Maryland and Virginia families.

Approximately 225 employee volunteers assembled 1,200 dinners of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, green beans, potatoes, corn and carrots to feed a family of four at IBM's Gaithersburg facility.

A network of 37 family and social service support agencies helped deliver the meals.

Cindy Dalton, chairwoman of 2009 IBM Project Thanksgiving, estimated in a statement that in the last 39 years the project has provided two bags of groceries and a 12- to 14-pound turkey to nearly 50,000 families.

Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Services also held its 39th annual Project Thanksgiving.

About 150 volunteers from the Rockville and Gaithersburg facilities assembled and packaged meals that were distributed by 80 charities to nearly 3,000 families for Thanksgiving, said Beth Matthews, who helped coordinate the effort.

Holiday Giving Project accepting donations

Montgomery County is accepting donations of food, gift cards, gifts for children and/or cash as part of its Holiday Giving Project.

Interfaith Works, a non-sectarian nonprofit organization with more than 140 member and affiliated congregations that works to meet the needs of the poor in the county, is spearheading the project for the second year. The Montgomery County Volunteer Center, which ran the project for many years, continues to work closely with Interfaith Works on the effort, the county reported.

The project, which has been aiding low-income families for 30 years, accepts referrals for holiday assistance. More than 9,000 families were served last year.

Service opportunities include organizing a food, gift card or toy collection drive; sponsoring a family or families in a specific neighborhood/zip code; and volunteering at Holiday Giving Project distribution sites.

For more information on the Holiday Giving Project, go to www.iworksmc.org/holidaygiving.html. To donate online, visit http://www.iworksmc.org/s-donation.html, click on the Network for Good button and enter Holiday Giving Project in the Designation box.

To donate food, gifts or gift cards or to volunteer, contact Susan Klavon at Interfaith Works, 301-315-1094, or via e-mail at giving@iworksmc.org. 

For more information about other ways to help during the holidays, call the Volunteer Center at 240-777-2600 or visit www.montgomerycountymd.gov/volunteer.

'Tis the season

to start decorating

Friends of Brookside Gardens will hold its annual Wreath and Centerpiece Sale 4 to 8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and again Dec. 11 and 12 at the Visitors Center at Brookside Gardens.

Two types and sizes of wreaths will be sold: 18-inch boxwood wreaths made by Friends members and 24-inch balsam fir wreaths shipped from Maine. Boxwood centerpieces will also be sold.

For more information, visit the Brookside Gardens Web site www.brooksidegardens.org or call 301-962-1435.

Brookside Gardens is located at 1800 Glenallan Ave. in Wheaton.

Help pets during the holidays

Local Long & Foster real estate agent Deborah Hartten is reaching out to help animal rescue groups this season.

The Kentlands businesswoman has organized "Warm Hearts, Happy Paws," an in-kind donation drive to benefit participating rescue groups that spend volunteer hours and dollars to foster pets and find them permanent homes.

Rescue groups including Lizzy's Lodge, McWag Rescue and the Montgomery County Humane Society are participating and have posted wish lists on Hartten's Long & Foster Web site, http://WarmHeartsHappyPaws.info.

Needed items include leashes and pet collars, bowls, toys and blankets.

Drop off new or almost-new items through Dec. 13 at Banfield, The Pet Hospital of Gaithersburg, 218 Kentlands Blvd., and Maple Springs Veterinary Hospital, 14925 Dufief Mill Road in Gaithersburg.

In Rockville, two animal hospitals are also collecting donations: Kenhaven Animal Hospital, 12311 Wilkins Ave., and Nebel Street Animal Hospital, 12100 Nebel St.

Donations can also be taken to King Farm's Pawlitics, 404 King Farm Blvd., Suite 140; Pro-Feed Pet Nutrition Center, 5542 Randolph Road, and Plow & Hearth, Congressional Plaza, 1625 Rockville Pike.

New playground in Derwood, thanks to Girl Scout

A community playground has now reopened next to St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Derwood, with the help of Kelsey Smith of Derwood.

The Magruder High School senior has been working to rejuvenate the playground as part of her Girl Scout Gold Award, which is the highest achievement in Girl Scouts and is similar to the Boy Scout's Eagle Scout Award.

"It's pretty much a leadership project where you learn how to handle things on your own and run the show, I guess," Smith said.

Debbie Knuth of Rockville and Joe Ashcraft of Gaithersburg especially helped with planning and organizing the work, creating a proposal and purchasing supplies, Smith said.

She recruited the help of friends, fellow Girl Scouts and her brother's Boy Scout troop — and over one month, the group flattened and replaced old mulch, did critical weeding, cut down overgrowth, and removed leaves and debris, Smith said.

When the dirty work was done, they stained wooden playground equipment.

The playground is located at 17740 Muncaster Road.

League to offer

program on justice

The League of Women Voters will welcome Ambassador M. Nathanial Barnes of Liberia and former journalist Eileen O'Connor of the Center for Justice & Accountability for a film and discussion at 3 p.m. Sunday at the AFI Silver Theatre.

The film, "Pray the Devil Back to Hell," shows how grassroots women's organizations helped to create awareness during Liberia's civil war, League officials said.

For fundraiser tickets and information, call the League office at 301-984-9585.

Library system says e-mails can save time and money

Montgomery County Public Libraries urge library customers to sign up for e-mail notifications that can save them time and money.

By receiving e-mail alerts, customer can be notified when items they have requested are ready for pick up and be reminded when borrowed items are due to be returned, library officials reported.

Customers can sign up online from the library computers or any home, school or work computer with internet access, using the E-Mail Notification Link on the library's Web site, www.montgomerycountymd.gov/

library.

To sign up for the free service, or for more information, visit the nearest county public library or check the library system Web site.

Helping hands at Hospice

Hospice Caring Inc. of Gaithersburg has a new director of children's bereavement.

Debbie Schechter, a lawyer and pastoral counselor, comes to Hospice Caring from the William Wendt Center for Loss and Healing in Washington, D.C., where she coordinated education, training and crisis response.

At Hospice Caring, she is responsible for expanding and overseeing the Good Grief Clubs, which are in-school bereavement support groups run by the nonprofit, as well as Camp Caring, Hospice Caring's weekend bereavement camp for children who have lost loved ones.

"We want to reach out to families that have had a death," said Schecter, who lives in the District. "People can see us as a resource."

To learn more about the programs, e-mail Debbie Schecter at debbies@hospicecaring.org or call her at 301-990-8904.

TLC honors employees

for service

The Treatment and Learning Centers recently named four recipients of the agency's Jonathan M. Stein Staff Appreciation Award for 2009, which recognizes TLC's staff for its outstanding service.

TLC is a non-profit organization providing educational, vocational and therapeutic services to children and adults with disabilities and typically developing children.

The award is funded by an endowment from the parents of Jonathan M. Stein in appreciation for the support TLC staff provided to their son.

"By their example, TLC's Stein Award recipients inspire every staff member in the organization to serve our community and our consumers at the highest level of excellence possible," Patricia Ritter, executive director of TLC, said in a prepared statement.

This year's Stein Award recipients are Gwenn Blau and Debbie Ezrin of Gaithersburg, Emily Kehr of Germantown and Matthew Vadney of Brunswick.

Blau is the educational director and Vadney is a special education teacher at TLC's Katherine Thomas School (KTS), an independent day school for students with language and learning disabilities and high-functioning autism, preschool through 12th grade.

Ezrin, director of development, is responsible for fundraising and special events such as the annual King of the Road 5K Run/1 Mile Walk/Kids' Fun Run on Nov. 15.

Kehr is an employment specialist for TLC's Outcomes Service, helping adults with disabilities engage in employment, maximize independence, and access community resources.

Nominees were selected for their creativity, dedication, willingness to help, enthusiasm and energy. Recipients are nominated by their peers and selected by previous Stein Award winners.

Items appropriate for this column should be sent to Judith Hruz, Editor, The Rockville/Aspen Hill Gazette, 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, Md. 20877; faxed to 301-670-7182 or 301-670-7183; or e-mailed to jhruz@gazette.net. Deadline is Thursday at 5 p.m. for consideration for the following week. Some deadlines might change during holiday weeks. Items are used on a space-available basis.