From left: Simpatico-Italy’s Finest Owner Bobbi Parlett, with her dog Bella Luce, St. Michaels Community Center Executive Director Patrick Rofe, and SMCC Executive Chef Sean Raspberry stand in front of Simpatico’s Italy’s Finest in St. Michaels with baskets of pasta donated to SMCC food distribution program and Community Café. Simpatico is continuing its “Buy One Give One” promotion on the purchase of Ritrovo pasta to benefit the people served by SMCC, with more at www.simpaticostmichaels.com.

“This is an incredible program that is helping to fill our pantry shelves,” said SMCC Executive Director Patrick Rofe. “SMCC provides as many as 250 pantry bags and 300 hot meals to our community every week, meaning this kind of community and business support can make a transformative difference in a person’s life.”

“We love supporting the St. Michaels Community Center,” said Simpatico-Italy’s Finest owner Bobbi Parlett. “With our shop being across the street from the Center, we see the important work that is being accomplished every day, and we’re glad to help.”

The Mid-Shore Community Foundation recently provided $20k and an additional $15k in funding to the St. Michaels Community Center in support of its food distribution program and capital campaign to rebuild the Center. Pictured in the SMCC food pantry are from left, SMCC Executive Director Patrick Rofe, SMCC Food Distribution Director and Youth Programs Coordinator Amy DeWitt, SMCC Volunteer Brian Griffiths, and Mid-Shore Community Foundation President Buck Duncan. The funds are being matched by other donors, with more at www.stmichaelscc.org.

“Every week, SMCC provides as many as 250 pantry bags and 300 hot meals to our community,” said SMCC Executive Director Patrick Rofe. “As we slowly emerge from the pandemic, the need in our community has remained high and this grant will help SMCC strengthen and expand the program to satisfy this need.”

“This is a great example of how our foundation connects private resources with public needs to enhance the quality of life for people of the Mid-Shore,” said Mid-Shore Community Foundation’s Chief Program Officer Robbin Hill. “Supporting the food support programs and future building improvements of the St. Michaels Community Center is an investment in helping to ensure no one goes hungry in our communities.”

U.S. Senator Ben Cardin, third from the left, meets St. Michaels Community Center Executive Director Patrick Rofe, right, while SMCC Advisory Board President Langley Shook, and his wife Karen look on. Sen. Cardin visited the St. Michaels Community Center on May 15 to see the Center’s current facilities and to go over plans for renovations. The World War II-era building was built as a lumber storage warehouse and has seen only minimal upgrades over its 80-year lifetime. It has no windows and most of the spaces have no insulation, no heat, and no air conditioning, among other issues.

​“The St. Michaels Community Center is doing important work addressing hunger in our communities,” said Sen. Cardin regarding SMCC’s food distribution program that serves people from Royal Oak to Tilghman Island, Md. “The Center’s plans for culinary job training also will fill an important need – helping to strengthen and maintain the strongest, most capable workforce for St. Michaels and the State of Maryland.”

​“We’re honored by Sen. Cardin’s interest in our plans,” said SMCC Advisory Board President Langley Shook. “State and federal support can go a long way to making the long-overdue renovation happen to let us serve more people when our new building is complete.” 

From left: St. Michaels Community Center Executive Director Patrick Rofe, SMCC Advisory Board President Langley Shook, and U.S. Senator Ben Cardin at SMCC’s Community Café. Senator Cardin stopped by on May 15 for a tour of the facility and to discuss improvement plans with Community Center leadership.

From left: SMCC Past Advisory Board President Karen Shook, SMCC Advisory Board President Langley Shook, U.S. Senator Ben Cardin, and SMCC Executive Director Patrick Rofe go over renderings and floor plans for the new St. Michaels Community Center. The new Center is planned to open in 2023, with fundraising currently underway. See more at www.stmichaelscc.org/future.

“Our building’s primary asset is its location in the commercial district near the people we serve,” said St. Michaels Community Center Executive Director Patrick Rofe. “This long-awaited adaptive renovation will make the St. Michaels Community Center the only fully-equipped resource center for social services on the Bay Hundred peninsula.”

“This will give us a place to do our best work and have the greatest impact on the lives of the children and adults we serve,” said SMCC Advisory Board President Langley Shook. 

“The State’s support is a great vote of confidence for our first-ever capital campaign and an investment in securing a sustainable future for the Community Center’s essential work,” said Shook. “We serve at the heart of this community, and these improvements will give us a much better platform from which to serve our community.” 

​“This funding will help us to have the improved facilities needed to support our food distribution program and a new culinary arts workforce training program, for example,” said Rofe. “This will benefit our participants and local restaurants in need of well-trained employees.
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“We’d like to start a Farm-to-Table program that will explore every topic related to nutrition and health, and for growing vegetables and fruits in our 40 community garden plots.”

“SMCC’s priority commitment is to the needs of the region’s population who lack the resources to lift themselves from poverty,” said Shook. “We will continue our long-time commitment to the food insecure and will add to that workforce development programming to enable adults’ transition to self-sufficiency.”