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4 FOR 5
Quartet of actors to take on grueling five-act “Hamlet” A-11
The Gazette OLNEY
DAILY UPDATES ONLINE www.gazette.net
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
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Civic leader Snowden dies at 88 n
STATEWIDE PROGRAM PROTECTS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE VICTIMS
BY
BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
Addressconfidentiality BY
KATE ROYALS
After filing a restraining order against her abusive ex-husband and buying a house to live in with her children, a Montgomery County woman who goes by the name of Leah struggled to keep her address secret from her abuser. Even with the restraining order, he continued to harass her, making threatening phone calls and blocking her car from leaving a parking lot. In 2008, the Motor Vehicles Administration asked her for her new address while she was re-registering a car she still owned with
TERRI HOGAN STAFF WRITER
Leah talks about the Maryland Safe at Home program, which provides victims of domestic violence with a substitute address for them to use for mail.
SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE
Small in stature, she leaves behind an enormous legacy
her ex-spouse. She realized that if she provided it, her abuser, who was in and out of jail, could find her and her children again. Today, Montgomery County has 72 people enrolled in a staterun program to help domestic violence victims hide from their abusive partners. After the incident at the Motor Vehicles Administration, Leah became one of them. Up to that point, she says, “I felt like I was strong. I thought I could handle stuff on my own.” But when someone with the MVA told her about Maryland’s Safe at Home Address Confidentiality
See VICTIMS, Page A-12
County volunteers provide 24-hour support to victims of sexual assault ‘We’re just there with them, we’re not deciding if their story is right or not’ n
BY
KARA ROSE
SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE
It might be 8 a.m. on a Tuesday. Maybe it’s 10 p.m. on a Wednesday, or 1 a.m. on a Sunday. Whenever that beeper sounds, the on-duty volunteer
at the county’s Victim Assistance and Sexual Assault Program springs to action. The 24-hour, seven days a week crisis intervention program is an agency of the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services and is staffed by mental health professionals and trained volunteers. When the crisis center is contacted by the police de-
See VOLUNTEERS, Page A-12
Carolyn Snowden, a Sandy Spring community activist and founder of the Sandy Spring Civic Association, died Aug. 29 after a lengthy illness. She was 88. In a program for the 2006 Greater-Olney Athena Award, Snowden was described as “a champion of civil and equal rights, and a formidable advocate of education, healthcare and civic improvements in Montgomery County and Sandy Spring for more than 60 years. For many, she epitomized the spirit of the community.” Sandy Spring civic activist Joy Turner said there are few words that adequately describe the contributions that Snowden made to the community and Montgomery County. “She was a tireless advocate for equality for all citizens,” she said. Her lifelong mission was to secure adequate laws for the welfare of the community and work for implementation of existing laws through united efforts that would secure for everyone the highest advantages.” Sen. Karen S. Montgomery (D-Dist. 14) of Brookeville said she worked with Snowden on many community issues over the years, dating back long before she was elected to office. “I saw her as a tiny little burst of fire,” she said. “She was like a match that ignited the community. This is a terrible loss for Sandy Spring.” Snowden served as president of the Sandy Spring Civic Association all but two years from 1956 to 2005. “Even when she wasn’t able to come to the civic association meetings because of her health, she always gave us instructions,” said Turner. “It was wonderful to get her perspective of where we’ve been, where we are, and what she saw as the future, and how to keep the coalition building.” She was also involved with the Sandy Spring Museum, the Sandy Spring Slavery Museum, Montgomery General Hospital and Habitat for
See SNOWDEN, Page A-6
Pool pup
Montgomery to roll out food recovery program n
Believed to be first countywide program in country BY
RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER
Montgomery County is preparing to unveil a new program for connecting sources of unused food with people who need it. The county’s food recovery network is expected to make it easier to collect unused food and get it to nonprofit agencies that feed the hungry. The program will deal with both planned food recoveries — when a supermarket knows it will have meat, dairy, produce or other products that will be past their sell-by date and can
schedule the products to be picked up — and unplanned pickups, taking food that wasn’t served from large weddings or catering events, said Richard Romer, who works for Montgomery County Councilwoman Valerie Ervin. Ervin helped form a work group that developed recommendations on creating a food recovery program for the county. The work group was scheduled to release its finding at a press conference Sept. 10. The group plans to set up both a central phone number to help set up food collections, as well as a mobile phone app to help connect providers with distributors, Romer said. A survey of grocery stores in the county found there aren’t many who don’t already donate products to organizations to feed the hungry, but restaurants and caterers may be more of
an untapped market, said Jenna Umbriac, director of nutrition programs for Manna Food Center in Gaithersburg, which provides food for more than 3,500 families each month. According to the group’s website, one in four county residents is at risk of hunger, and 32 percent of Montgomery County Public Schools students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. People are sometimes reluctant to donate because they’re afraid of being liable if someone gets sick from the products they donate, Umbriac said. But the new program will provide a countywide seal of approval that unused goods can be donated without fear of liability. The program has attracted a lot of private sector support, Romer said.
NEWS
SPORTS
Painter steps up to give explanation on roadside masterworks.
For first time in four years Alex Holston won’t dominate county’s volleyball season.
ART MYSTERY SOLVED
A-4
VOLLEYBALL: THE END OF AN ERA
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See FOOD, Page A-7
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GEORGE P. SMITH/FOR THE GAZETTE
Danny and Gabrielle Alahouzos’ golden retriever Levi enjoys cooling off at the Manchester Farm Pool in Germantown, when in an annual Labor Day tradition, they let the dogs close the pool at the end of the season.
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