Our COMMUNITY SERVICE

What We Do

Below are charitable events, activities and donations that CedarLight Grove has made over the years:

2021:

• This was the second year of Covid, most of our events were held online via Zoom
• Weekly public Zoom Blessing Rites, seasonal High Days, and other activities
• We continued our fundraiser to plant trees through American Forests planting a total of 592 trees this year for a total thus far of 4123 since we started in 2016.
• We continued our fundraiser to plant oyster spat (babies) in the Chesapeake Bay to help clean the water. This year we planted 107,500, that’s 253,100 baby oysters since 2018.
• Once again helped a community organization clean up an abandoned cemetery as a service to both the dead and the community.

2020:

• This was the first year of Covid, all of our events were held online via Zoom
• Weekly public Zoom Blessing Rites, seasonal High Days, and other activities
• We continued our fundraiser to plant trees through American Forests planting a total of 199 trees this year for a total thus far of 3541 since we started in 2016.
• We continued our fundraiser to plant oyster spat (babies) in the Chesapeake Bay to help clean the water. This year we planted 25,000, that’s 160,600 baby oysters since 2018.
• Once again helped a community organization clean up an abandoned cemetery as a service to both the dead and the community.

2019:

• Weekly public Blessing Rites, seasonal High Days, and other activities
• Monthly public Reiki Shares
• Monthly Celtic music share for local musicians.
• We continued our fundraiser to plant trees through American Forests planting a total of 834 trees this year for a total thus far of 2524 since we started.
• We started a new fundraiser to plant oyster spat (babies) in the Chesapeake Bay to help clean the water. This year we planted 61600 baby oysters.
• Once again helped a community organization clean up an abandoned cemetery as a service to both the dead and the community.

2018:

• Weekly public Blessing Rites and other activities
• Monthly public Reiki Shares
• Monthly Celtic music share for local musicians.
• We continued our fundraiser to plant trees through American Forests planting a total of 834 trees this year for a total thus far of 2524 since we started.
• We started a new fundraiser to plant oyster spat (babies) in the Chesapeake Bay to help clean the water. This year we planted 61600 baby oysters.
• Once again helped a community organization clean up an abandoned cemetery as a service to both the dead and the community.

2017:

• Weekly public Blessing Rites and other activities
• Monthly public Reiki Shares
• We continued our fundraiser to plant trees through Arbor Day and then American Forests planting a total of 1170 trees this year.
• Helped a community organization clean up an abandoned cemetery as a service to both the dead and the community.

2016:

• Weekly public Blessing Rites and other activities
• Monthly public Reiki Shares
• Drive to supply aid to a county Humane Society which got inundated when a local puppy farm was discovered and all the dogs confiscated. We sent several hundred pounds of food and supplies.
• Helped a community organization clean up an abandoned cemetery.
• Planted 635 trees through the Arbor Day foundation.
• Raised $810.00 for food and supplies for Native Americans living on the Pine Ridge Reservation

2015:

• Weekly public Blessing Rites and other activities
• Monthly public Reiki Shares
• Stream Cleanup in Double Rock Park
• Opened the grove to members and their families during the Baltimore Riots if they needed a safe place to stay and coordinated grove members willing to risk the danger zones to get folks out.
• Public educational workshops on a variety of subjects
• Raised $434.00 for Baltimore Station a local charity that helps homeless veterans get back on their feet.
• Our Senior Druid served on a discussion panel at UMBC for students on the subject of Social Justice and the role of Faith within that sphere.

2014:

• Joined with the Hamilton community association to clear up a forgotten local family cemetery. We had lots of people out there over the course of three days clearing falling trees, weeding, straightening, and re-positioning headstones to where they needed to be.
• Monthly Reiki shares that are open the public.
• Study halls various study programs in ADF.
• Sponsored the Sacred Space Conference
• Gathered warm clothing donations for the Luna’s House Charity
• We raised money for the Wounded Warrior project by putting on a Talent Show for Lughnasadh, which was divided into performance and crafts. We also held a Weekend Healing Intensive replete with workshops, activities, and a Public Earth Ritual. The workshops raised funds for our Grove, but the Ritual was completely free. Honestly, we really had a wonderful weekend.
• Held many workshops on a variety of subjects and help training for levels 1, 2, 3 & Master in Reiki at the grove.

2013:

• Donated three massive bags of handmade and store-bought hats, gloves, coats, and scarves to the House of Ruth: Baltimore.
• Offered workshops and orchestrated a massive healing ritual at Trillium Gathering.
• Orchestrated a Stream Cleanup at one of our local farms and hauled away/recycled over 7 garbage bags of trash and recyclables.
• Members gave their time and service to helping a local Heathen Kindred with gardening.
• Collected small funds for Hunters for the Hungry for Beltaine.
• Held memorial services for previous members who had passed this year.
• Led and hosted many workshops on scholarship, from Mental Health to Healing to Religious Practice in the Ancient World, to information about the ADF Study Programs.
• Held a monthly Reiki share open to the community to spread healing.
• We raised $476.20 for Child’s Play, a Charity run by Gamers to provide children in hospitals with gaming consoles and other things to make their time more enjoyable.
• Joined the local community association in cleaning up and caring for a local Cemetery in honor of the ancestors for Samhain.

2012:

• Ran Lughnasadh games for anyone that wanted to participate at a local park.
• Held monthly Reiki shares open to the community to spread healing.
• Held a special Service for Veterans Day.
• Held a special Service for Memorial Day.
• Collected funds for the Red Cross to assist Hurricane Sandy Relief.
• Donated tons of books, clothing, and misc items to Goodwill.
• Donated bras to the “Free the Girls” Campaign.
• Gave a Q/A Session for the Baltimore Pagan Meetup Group
• Organized a Spring Cleaning Stuff Swap to keep useful items out of landfills!

2011:

• Sponsored Witchvox in January.
• $400 raised by doing a moonlight Wolf Sanctuary walk that adopted 3 wolves in December.
• Did a Gunpowder Falls Stream Clean-up in November
• Particpated in the D.C. Halloween Countering protest against the New Apostolic Reformation Cursing Prayer Campaign in October.
• We hired a fellow ADF member who was in financial trouble to do repair work around the Grove thus helping out his family.

2010:

• Gathered funds to donate to Isaac Bonewits family to put towards his medical bills for our Mabon High Rite.
• We hired a fellow ADF member who was in financial trouble to do repair work around the Grove thus helping out his family.
• Gathered non-perishable food items for our Ostara charity event to donate to needy families via the MD Food Bank.
• Sponsored Witchvox in January.
• Gathered supplies for care packages to send to overseas pagan military for our Lughnasadh charity.
• We did a stream clean-up at Double Rock park in Baltimore in June for our Midsummer High Rite.
• We wrote letters to active military for July 4th to celebrate Independence Day as part of the Operation Gratitude organization.
• We created Artwork to support marine life suffering from the oil spill in the gulf as part of Ripple Sketches

2009:

• Raised $700 for the Fire Lightning Tiospaye Wounded Knee Visitor’s Center on Pine Ridge Reservation during our Imbolc high rite.
• Sponsored Witchvox in January
• Sponsored the Sacred Space Gathering with $300 in February, which helped pay for Diana Paxsons hotel room.
• Sponsored the U.S. tour of Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone with a $200 donation
• Raised $680 with the raffle of a quilt donated to us by natives at the Wounded Knee Visitors center so they could buy equipment to start a garden to feed their people. This was our Beltane charity, completed during Lughnasadh.
• Gathered 48 pounds worth of food to donate to the maryland food bank during our Lughnasadh Charity.
• Raised $130 to donate to the Luna House Animal Shelter during our Samhain charity event.
• We helped support ADF by advertising our Grove with a full page ad in Oak Leaves.
• Created 3 wreaths in the them of “Land, Sea, and Sky” to donate to the Kennedy Krieger Foundation as a Yule charity event. Our wreaths brought a total of $250 for the foundation.
• Gathered 3 baskets of food for thanksgiving to donate to needy families.
• Gathered 3 baskets of food again in December for Yule to donate to needy families for their holiday feast.

2008:

• Sponsored the Ecumenicon Conference
• Sponsored the Baltimore Pagan Pride Day
• Sponsored WitchVox
• One of our members was in charge of organizing the Baltimore Pagan Pride Day
• Sponsored the oldest member of CLG and one of the oldest members of ADF’s membership.
• We helped support ADF by advertising our Grove in Oak Leaves.
• In February and March during our Imbolc Season, we collected blankets and warm clothes to send to the Lakota Natives in Wounded Knee South Dakota. We collect around 50 blankets to donate!
• For our Beltane charity we were able to box up and ship the gathered blankets for a total of $250.
• For our Lughnasadh charity we gathered up 5 large bags of clothes worth about $375 to donate to Goodwill.
• For our Samhain charity, we gathered books for the Book Thing charity based out of Baltimore, MD as our Samhain charity event. Total we gathered 3 boxes worth of books.
• For our winter charity, we sponsored a family for Christmas, providing food and presents for a single mother with 5 children.

2007:

• For our winter charity event in December, we gathered 3 boxes of clothes, 11 trashbags full of clothes, and 12 hand-knit scarves by our own members to donate to the STEP Mental Health Organization.
• Donated money to have the electricity turned back on for the Fire Lightning Tiospaye Wounded Knee Visitor Center so they could hold their annual Wounded Knee Takeover Commemoration.
• Sponsored the Ecumenicon Conference
• Sponsored the Baltimore Pagan Pride Day
• One of our members was in charge of organizing the Baltimore Pagan Pride Day
• Sponsored the Interfaith Coalition
• Sponsored WitchVox
• Participated in the Weed Warriors to help remove invasive species from Maryland’s agriculture
• Helped a team of 60 pre-teen students plant trees for a school project
• Our Grove members provided hospitality to Garry Rowland from the Wounded Knee Visitors Center in April, during his visit to speak at our sanctuary, all donations for that workshop were donated to the Fire Lightning Tiospaye organization, totalling $366.52
• Sponsored the oldest member of CLG and one of the oldest members of ADF’s membership.
• An advertised Peer Counseling Workshop led by Michael Reeder
• We participated in the 4th of July rally to help get more sigils on Veteran memorials.
• We helped support ADF by advertising our Grove in Oak Leaves.

2006:

• Donated $500 to the Officers of Avalon Katrina Relief Fund
• Sponsored the Ecumenicon Conference
• Sponsored the Baltimore Pagan Pride Day
• Sponsored the Interfaith Coalition
• Participated in the Weed Warriors to help remove invasive species from Maryland’s agriculture
• Sponsored WitchVox.
• Herring Run Weekday Weed Pull and Social in Baltimore
• Several members have been contacting Spiral Scouts about starting up a local group for the youths of Baltimore
• Are currently sponsoring a DFGL (Distinctive Faith Group Leader) on base at Fort Meade Army Base so that they can hold pagan services for military members within the chaplains spaces on base.
• Sponsored the oldest member of CLG and one of the oldest members of ADF’s membership.
• We participated in the 4th of July rally to help get pagan sigils on Veteran memorials.
• Held a Canned Food Drive for our summer charity.
• One of our members was in charge of organizing the Baltimore Pagan Pride Day

2005:

• Sponsored the Ecumenicon Conference
• Sponsored the Interfaith Coalition
• We donated both money and goods to Sheppard Pratt Hospital and STEP, Inc. (a non -profit organization that helps the mentally ill)
• We dontated a food and gifts to a family for the holiday season.
• We held a Katrina Healing rite.
• Sent a member to New Orleans with the Red Cross for Katrina Relief
• In September we provided space for the Baltimore PNO Mabon High Rite
• Sponsored WitchVox.
• In September we provided space for the Baltimore PNO Mabon High Rite
• Sponsored the oldest member of CLG and one of the oldest members of ADF’s membership.

2004:

• Participated in the Adopt-A-Highway program
• Sponsored the Ecumenicon Conference
• Sponsored the Interfaith Coalition
• Held an auction to raise money to support CedarLight Center.
• Donated $100 to a coven forming in Eastern Correctional Institute
• Held a clothes drive for residents of Shepherd Pratt Hospital collecting a total of 18 laundry baskets full of clothes, several winter coats and several large totes of clothes.
• In January, we began co sponsoring a new youth program for pagan youths.
• One of our members began corresponding with an inmate for spiritual counseling.
• We held a clothing swap at our Beltane High Rite.
• We provided a 3 hour class on Druidry and ritual for a Magic, Myth & Ritual history class at a local college.
• Sponsored WitchVox.

2003:

• Held an auction to raise $639 for a member who was hospitalized without insurance
• Held an auction to raise $1143 for the Highland Farm Community and CSA.
• Sponsored the Ecumenicon Conference
• Sponsored the Interfaith Coalition
• A Grove member brought a needy family to the attention of the Grove. A (non-pagan) widowed father with 3 small children and no hope of giving them a Christmas. Grove members donated money, food, toys and clothing. The father was completely blown away’ that a bunch of strangers from a Druid Grove had given himself and his children “the best Christmas ever!”
• Raised $550 for Highland Farm Community Supported Agriculture Project at our Beltain High Rite and campout.
• A Grove member brought a needy man to the attention of the Grove. A (non-pagan) elderly man in the neighborhood near Cedar Light Center was about to be fined by the city for failing to paint his house. The Grove wrote a letter to the city stating that we have volunteered to paint his house as soon as the spring rains stop and the wood dries out.
• We started a long term arrangement with a local Wiccan group to use the space on days we are not.
• Mustered folks to help several members and non-members to move from one house to another.