The Bright Side: A community that cares
SALISBURY, Md. – Megan Outten wears many hats. She’s an aspiring politician, a local activist, but the role she takes the greatest pride in is being a philanthropist.
About a month ago, Megan held a packing event in Salisbury. She gathered a few dozen community members, and they all donated supplies, and their time to pack care kits.
“We had a fantastic turn out; I think 80 residents ended up coming together,” said Megan. “The original purpose was to pack feminine care kits for residents in need in Wicomico County, and we were going to give those care kits to the Wicomico County Library, just to distribute to residents in need.”
The excitement of the successful event quickly fizzled, after the car that was carrying all 300 care kits was stolen.
“I was really hoping that we would find them dropped off somewhere. We did a call to the community just to see if anyone found them; our sole purpose was just to hope that those care kits were returned, because again, that’s 300 care kits– that’s 300 residents that could have benefited from those items,” said Megan.
A discouraging moment, yes. But Megan didn’t let it stop her. The community already showed up for her once, so she was confident they would respond to another call to action.
She made a Facebook post asking folks to join her for another packing party and even more people showed up, which meant even more care kits were packed.
“Because of the support we got, I was actually able to reach out to HOPE, and talk about some of the needs they had,” said Megan. “We were hearing from their coordinator there was a lot of need to support our homeless men in the county, and we were able to develop a separate care kit that helps with those residents as well.”
She may have lost the car, and all the care kits inside, but through this experience, Megan said she gained a new appreciation for the people in her community.
“To feel so much community support and feel that this community was willing to step up when I needed to take a pause for myself, it honestly was a beautiful thing to experience,” Megan said.
