Activities

Trip to St. Vincent's Center
The SADD members traveled to St. Vincent's Center. St. Vincent's is an organization that provides a home, love and support to children who grew up in destructive homes earlier in their lives. These children have been permanently scarred by their past and depend on the staff and volunteers and St. Vincents.

Ms. Cindy Mitchell Summers cordially greeted the students from SADD and gave the group a brief history of St. Vincent's and some important information about volunteering with children who have grown up in situations that differ from the average child. After hearing Ms. Summer's heart-wrenching personal experiences, the Towson SADD students were prepared to work with the St. Vincent students.

Towson's SADD had planned to have the students at the St. Vincent's Center make Valentines Day cards and randomly choose one from a pile (to prevent hurt feelings that could possibly have arisen). So, the SADD group split up into two houses in order to be able to work with and spend time with the children more closely.

It was clear to the SADD group that many children at St. Vincent's had been emotionally scarred from their lives prior to St. Vincent's. Thus, the SADD group offered not only their time, but also their support and friendship to these students. Upon later reflection on the visit, SADD concluded that the visit truly made them thankful for the lives that they have and made them even more apt to strive to prevent other people who seem different from being targeting in the world.

*SADD would like to thank Ms. Summers and the St. Vincent's Center for allowing them to spend time with the children there--not only did we learn a lot about the effects of destructive decisions on innnocent children, but we learned a lot about ourselves and how we want to live our lives!*
SADD Executive Board member
Chara House Fundraiser
Each year we collect money to donate to the Chara House. The Chara House is a place for patients who have AIDS. This year we collected fifty-nine dollars, overpassing what we collected last year. The money was donated by many Towson students during the lunch shifts.
SADD member
A quote from http://www.catholiccharities-md.org/Children/charahouse.htm about Chara House, which is part of St. Vincent's Center:
"Chara House, (Ka-rah means joy), is a community based, transitional foster care home for medically fragile infants and toddlers from birth to four years of age, including those who are at risk for, or infected with HIV/AIDS, prenatal drug and alcohol exposure and other medical and psychological challenges. Chara House is staffed by trained professionals who provide a nurturing, loving and supportive treatment environment for children and their families. Once the children are medically stable, they are placed with an adoptive or foster family. Referrals are accepted from all local Departments of Social Services in the State of Maryland. Chara House is licensed to serve eight children and their families.