Boots & Bling: A Western Fling Fundraiser for Alexandria's Kids

Annual fundraiser to help Alexandria's Kids continue to provide services to child abuse victims and vulnerable families in Alexandria, VA.  

When: February 25, 2016, 
Where: Blackwall Hitch Restaurant, on the waterfront, Old Town, Alexandria, VA 
When:  7-10pm. 

The event will include: 

• live music
• dinner (including a full taco bar!)
• open bar

along with a chance to win: 

• a week in Jackson Hole
• a weekend in Washington, VA, 
• a $2500 Neiman Marcus card, 
• and/or a signed Chip Esten (TV’s Nashville) guitar. 

Tickets can be purchased  at www.alexandriaskids.org

T.C. Williams Teacher "For the Love of Reading" Fund Needs Your Help

We are trying to get books in students' hands before an author visit in March. 

***For the next 3 days if donor's use the code SPARK their donation will be matched***

Thank you for your support!

For The Love Of Reading

My students need the book All American Boys so they can read about characters, places, and themes that reflect their lives.

My Students

For students who have yet to have books change their lives, they often don’t believe me when I say it has happened to me. 

While all the students in our school have access to the library, and plenty of them take advantage of the resources we have, some of them go home to book deserts.

This project aims to give them a book(All American Boys) that can be the beginning of their own library--something they can keep, write in, own. 

My Project

We are very excited to be able to participate in the NOVA Teen Book Festival and while we would love for all of our students to participate in the day’s activities, our targeted students would have no way of getting to and from the events of the festival. This project allows us to bring the festival to our students by bringing two young adult authors to speak at our school. We really want students to fall in love with Jason Reynold’s compelling stories, and we also want them to catch his vision--to believe their words can change people’s lives.

Bringing Jason Reynold’s to our school, and giving our students a chance to own one of his books and come to the author’s visit ready to really talk about it, could be the catalyst for getting some of our students to see themselves as writers.

And giving our students a chance to talk to him about his writing process could help them start to consider themselves as potential writers.

Here's the link: goo.gl/HvYaX5 

ALIVE! Toy Drive

Please support a holiday toy drive for NEW or GENTLY USED TOYS for boys and girls in our community. 
Once again, this year I'm part of a group of Alexandria boys at Gonzaga College High School who are getting together to help ALIVE! stock their annual Christmas Toy Closet. 
Every year the ALIVE! toy closet enables families in need to select holiday gifts for their children. 
* Please donate NEW or GENTLY USED children's toys by December 11th. 
* Items may be dropped at 5 East Nelson Avenue (front porch) OR contact mjerakis@gmail.com to arrange a time for pick up.
Thank you! 

Children's Book Drive

Alexandria Bookshelf (ABS) needs your gently used books!Every holiday season, Alexandria Bookshelf, one of the many community outreach projects of the DreamDog Foundation, gives out thousands of books to children in Alexandria. You may have seen these books in your own homes – they have a sticker on them advertising our program. Now in our 3rd year, ABS has more than 200,000 books out in Alexandria on more 35 bookshelves around the community, in schools, recreation centers and in the city’s housing authorities.
This holiday season, we’re asking for your help in filling Alexandria homes with fantastic children’s books, often for kids who don’t own books of their own. ABS is getting books in the "Hands, Homes and Hearts of ALL Children! Thank you for helping make that possible!
Please clean out your children’s bookshelves and donate gently used books at one of the following locations:
Hooray for Books at 1555 King Street in Old Town.Mt. Vernon Rec Center in Del Ray at 2701 Commonwealth Ave.UpCycle at in Del Ray at 1712 Mt. Vernon Avenue (2nd floor)CrossFit by the water in Old Town at 805 North Royal Street.31 E. Masonic View Ave.Or 23 W. Myrtle St.
This is a win-win – you get to make space in your homes just in time for the holidays. And our city’s kids get to experience the joy that comes with a really good read.Questions? Want to volunteer this holiday season? Email jesswehrman@yahoo.com

New Community Outreach in Alexandria

Dear Neighbors:

About a month or so back, many of you so generously expressed interest in a new community project that would bring new and/or gently used items from our community to the disadvantaged Parker Gray community near the Charles Houston Recreation Center and Sugar Shack Donuts. 

After meeting this morning with the Director of Programs at the Charles Houston Recreation Center, I'm happy to provide more specific details below. Every little bit counts, so thank you in advance for any assistance that you can provide. 

Friday, October 16th: Please drop off any unused or gently used clothing, children's gear, small household items, etc. that you are willing to donate at the Charles Houston Recreation Center, 901 Wythe Street, Alexandria, VA to the manager on duty between the hours of 2 p.m and 9 p.m. If you are unable to drop off on this day or during these times, please email me and we can make other arrangements. We are also looking for a handful of volunteers this evening to help sort through and arrange donated items between the hours of 6 and 9 p.m. If you are interested in volunteering your time, please contact me directly.

Saturday, October 17th: Parker Gray community residents will be invited to the Charles Houston Recreation Center between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 12 p.m. to receive any donated items that they may be in need of but unable to afford. We are looking for a small group of volunteers on this day to help facilitate the collection of items between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 12 p.m. We are also looking for a group of volunteers to haul away any uncollected items and drop them off to the Salvation Army. These volunteers will need to be available promptly at noon since there is an afternoon event in the same space that we will be using that morning. (Unfortunately, because this is our first time doing this and because we put the event together rather quickly on the good advice of a neighbor who suggested that the greatest need is before the holidays and cold weather hit, we did not have sufficient time to arrange for uncollected items to be picked up at the distribution site by local non-profits. Should this event be a success, we will better prepare next year). Please contact me directly if you are interested in volunteering on Saturday, October 17th.

Many, many thanks once again in advance for any help that you may be able to provide!!! An item that may seem insignificant and appropriate for trash collection could make a difference in the lives of our neighbors just down the road. More importantly, our donations of time and goods will let them know that we see them, and that we care.

Sincerely,
Jessica Wszalek

Coat Drive for Alexandria Children in Need

The Fund for Alexandria’s Child invites Alexandria residents to help children in foster care or at risk of abuse or neglect keep warm this winter through its annual Fall Coat Drive, running now through November 20, 2015. 

Donations of coats, hats, scarves and gloves help ensure that all Alexandria children are able to stay warm during what promises to be another bitter winter.

Those interested in donating can do so through an Amazon Wish list or by purchasing items elsewhere and delivering them to:

Alexandria DCHSATTN: Community Resources Program2525 Mt. Vernon AvenueAlexandria, VA 22301 

The Fund for Alexandria’s Child is a program within the City of Alexandria’s Department of Community and Human Services, which works to enhance the quality of life of the most vulnerable children in our community. The value of any contributions is tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.

For more information, call 703.746.5663 or email thefundforalexchild@alexandriava.gov.

The City of Alexandria is committed to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, as amended. To request a reasonable accommodation, email Maurice Tomdio at maurice.tomdio@alexandriava.gov or call 571.384.5244.

Dress for Success Donation Drive

From August 16th to 22nd, lou lou customers can bring in lightly worn accessories, jewelry or bags and they will receive 40% off a single item in the store. On August 22, for every three accessories sold, lou lou will donate a pair of earrings to Dress For Success.

For the entire month, a portion of sales proceeds from all earring backs go to support Dress For Success. The purpose of the event is to offer long-lasting solutions that enable women to break the cycle of poverty. Dress for Success is part of a global movement for change, empowering women to obtain safer and better futures. 

lou lou

132 King Street

Alexandria, VA 22314

Sno Cones for Charity

Photos with Santa

Have your picture taken with Santa and support The Alexandria Firefighter, Inc. IAFF Local 2141 and their Helping Hands Relief Fund and the annual AFD Toy Drive for Children. 
More information about those efforts here:http://tinyurl.com/HHRFAFDTOY

Santa will be visiting historic Firehouse 201, located at 317 Prince Street in Old Town Alexandria for three days this year to take photos in front of the historic 1863 “Champion” Steam Fire Engine.  
     Saturday, November 24th 
    Sunday, November 25th
    Sunday, December 2nd 

Hours are from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. 
Your $10 donation supports the Helping Hands Relief Fund and the AFD Toy Drive.  Your donation  includes a coupon for a complimentary medium resolution digital image or single 4x6 print. All of the images taken are posted at http://local2141.org and allows you to purchase and download additional digital copies of the images starting at .99 cents each and/or make quality prints starting at $2.99 for a 4x6 size image. 



Alexandria Firefighters Inc., IAFF Local 2141 represents Alexandria's Firefighters, Paramedics, Fire Marshals, Dispatchers, and Code Enforcement personnel. For more information about our organization please visit http://www.afdlocal2141.org

School Supply Donation Drive

School Supply Drive -- Now through August 29

Community Partners for Children, a  community-based nonprofit organization that works to better the lives of needy children in Alexandria, will be collecting school supplies and backpacks for over 5,000 children attending Alexandria City public schools.

The school supplies that are generously donated by individuals, organizations and businesses, are given to school social workers who then distribute them to eligible and needy students at the beginning of the school year.

There are collection sites and boxes throughout the city, including public libraries and recreation centers. 

ACTion Alexandria helping the Center for Alexandria's Children

FROM ACTion Alexandria Community Manager, Tracy Viselli


This week on ACTion Alexandria, we are helping the Center for
Alexandria's Children to  collect 50 toys for their playgroups that provide critical 
developmental support to young children and parents in Alexandria. The
CAC is a great local nonprofit dedicated to eliminating child abuse in
the City of Alexandria. They also run a successful developmental
playgroup program.

By providing a social environment with developmentally appropriate
activities, the CAC developmental playgroups

http://centerforalexandriaschildren.org/index.php?s=services#playgroups\


help address the gap in development of young children for some of
the most vulnerable and underserved families in Alexandria.

Visit ACTion Alexandria to donate toys to the playgroup kids at the CAC
today!

http://www.actionalexandria.org/action/week-support-center-alexandrias-\
children-developmental-playgroups

You'll be sent to ACTion Alexandria's action page for the CAC's
playgroups 
http://www.actionalexandria.org/
Click on the Take Action button and select donations from the CAC's Amazon Wish List.
These toys and materials have been selected specifically for the
developmental playgroups.

The RunningBrooke Fund, our favorite sponsor, is matching donations up
to a total value of $500!
Don't miss your opportunity to make a lasting impact in the lives of
local children.

Thanks you! 

Community Lodgings Needs....

Community Lodgings has 4 homeless families moving into the program and are in
need of the following furniture for the apartments.
You will get a tax receipt for your donation and we'll pick up what you donate.
Please call Bonnie for more information 703-549-4407

THANK YOU!

2-Sleeper sofas

2-livingroom chairs

3-bedroom dressers

4-6-twin beds

6-diningroom chairs

9-plastic twin mattress covers

1-regular sofa

Alexandria Salvation Army food pantry needs your help

FROM THE SALVATION ARMY: 
located on the corner of E. Bellefonte Avenue and Mt. Vernon Avenue. 

Many of the items in the food pantry are getting low and we need as many donations as possible so that we can continue to give out food to our clients.
Thank you so much, we appreciate all of your constant and continued help. 

Here are the foods that are needed for the food pantry: 

·         Cans of fruit and also possible fruit packs of applesauce
·         Spaghetti Sauce
·         Dry Soup (ie. Ramen Noodles/Cup of Noodles)
·         Dry Milk/Cans of Milk
·         Lots of Tuna Fish
·         Bread
·         Eggs/Egg Beaters (small cartons)
          Macaroni & Cheese Boxes
·         Boxes of Rice (Assorted kinds...white/brown/flavored/etc)
·         Pasta and also wheat pasta
·         Canned Pasta (Ravioli/Spaghetti O’s/Etc)
·         Canned Vegetables (Greens, and Mixed Vegetables)
·         Instant Packs/Boxes of Mashed Potatoes
·         Peanut Butter
·         Jiffy Cornbread
·         Oatmeal
·         Baked Beans Cans
·         Soups needed: Vegetable

Items that we donate that our clients are asking for:
·         Eggs/Egg Beaters (small cartons)
·         Bread
·         Frozen Vegetables
·         Deli Meat and Cheese

Items may be brought to our building located at 107 E Bellefonte Avenue.
Thank you!