Winter holiday menu now available! Come by our Bakeshop for fresh sufganiyot!

Sunflower Bakery will be closed December 24 & 25. Cafe Sunflower will be closed December 23-27.

Sunflower Celebration

Each Spring, Sunflower brings together our community to celebrate our graduates and honor community members who have helped Sunflower fulfill our mission or have made significant contributions towards equity and inclusion for people with learning differences.

Celebration 2024

Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center

Sunday, June 16, 2024
Dessert Reception 7:30pm | Program 8:15pm

Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center
7995 Georgia Avenue
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Parking at 931 King Street

Parking garage and surface lot

Our Community Honorees

Excellence in Leadership
Scott Reiter
Sunflower Bakery Board Member and Former Board Chair

Building Community Inclusion
Patricia K. Cochrane
Montgomery County Public School
Supervisor for the Transition Services Unit

Exemplary Employer Partner
Harris Teeter

Event Co-Chairs

Kay Klass & Mark Levitt, Co-Chairs
Rachel Engelhart & Shaanan Meyerstein, Co-Chairs

Host Committee

(in formation)

Pennie & Gary Abramson
Naomi & David Balto
Vivian & Ray Bass
Kira Epstein Begal & Billy Begal
Aliza Levine & Eric Brown
Alana & Brett Fine
Sara Fink
Rachel & David Milner Gillers

Robin Hettleman
Heather Johnson
Devora Labaton & Micah Stein
Jessica Levi & Thomas Le’Trent
Tammy Levine
Shira & Daniel Margol
Karen Meister
Dottie Bennett & Richard Morton
Rebecca & Matt Price

Rabbi Adam & Sari Raskin
Jessica & Justin Rubin
Susan & Bradley Stillman
Miriam & Adam Szubin
Alyson & Josh Weinberg
Reuven & Tamar Zakheim
Mark & Janet Zuckerman

Sponsors
Goldfarb & Associates Inc - Pumps - Injectors - Turbos     Mayberg Foundation    M&T Bank    CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield logo     Clear Connection logo    The Perfect Jean logo    Host Hotels & Resorts    Safeway    Sandy Spring Bank    Commercial Insurance Managers, A Mumpower Enterprise, "Lighting the Way to Business Security"    Logo of CESJDS, Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School    JCRC Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington    Sulam - Unlimited Learning (logo)

Celebration 2023

Pastry Arts Graduates

Josephine Adams
Ana Beaulieu
Avital Chefitz
Ryan Connell
Mark Cruse
Gillian Eisenberg
Andrew Gates
Darius Henderson
Roland Hudson
Alejandro Ifarraguerri
Jamison Kilgore
Gavin Kutz
Alexandra Miller
Ryan Pollock
Brian Salewski
Jordan Scott-Geason
Caleb Sterling
Ryan Swayze
Zienna Tampe Bravo
Tyree Walters
Jasmine Woody

Hospitality Graduates

Abigail Albrittain
Ty’Asia Bryant
Michael Casey
Hilary Greenwald
Melissa Mantua
Jeremy Miller
Rachael Rabinovitz
Ian Shorter
Jeremy Soled
Aiden Tisch

Our Community Honorees

Excellence in Leadership
Daphna Raskas
Former Sunflower Board Chair, Executive Director, and Development Director

Building Community Inclusion
Chuck Short
Retired, 50 Years of Public Service in Montgomery County

Exemplary Employer Partner
The Pretzel Bakery

Celebration 2022

Pastry Arts Graduates

Leora Cherry
Dishon Scott
Paul Smith
Christian Garcia
Vicky Adams
Drew White
Ethan Bailey
Maia West
Julia Kraft
Joshua Blount
Reese Branham
Rachel Hamm
Kai Shuman
Dahneesha Whyte
Jahi Sibert

Hospitality Graduates

Juan Jose Campero
Jessica Lipsher
Josh Rubin
Noah Plitt
Webb Kavanagh
Haydee Alonzo Herrera
Jessica Morissette
Tierney Caulfield
Josef Klausner
Alessandro Spilimbergo
Toby Edelschick

Our Unsung Heroes

Shaping Inclusive Futures
Sara Portman Milner
Co-Founder and Director of Student Services

Building Community Impact
Maharat Ruth Balinsky Friedman and Ohev Sholom – The National Synagogue
Spiritual Leader and Community Partner

Exemplary Employer Partner
Adventist Healthcare, Shady Grove

2021

Pastry Arts Graduates

Hospitality Graduates

Austin Agrofiotis
Osemen Aigbedion
Jolie Band
Demba Cisse
Ethan Edwards
Catrina Hainer
Mike Kelly
Luis Neimand
Connor Pennanen
Ellis Rodgers-Archer
Cam Shorter
Ashley Thompson
Hana Tsegaye
Andrew Tucker
Jacob Van Houter
Moire Wright
Alvaro Cervantes
Gary Copeland
Kylie Huntington
Michael Pesin
Jessie Wiley

Our Unsung Heroes

Making Dreams Happen
Cathy Bernard
Business executive and community arts entrepreneur

Building Community Impact
Ron Halber
Executive Director, Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington

Fostering Confidence to Succeed
Susan Belsky
Speech/language pathologist and Sunflower volunteer

Developing Skilled Employees
Elizabeth Hutter
Culinary Director, Sunflower Bakery