Nonprofit helps with school supplies

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Two decades ago, Susan Ungerer was volunteering at a Fairfax County nonprofit group that helps financially strapped families when she noticed a pattern: Parents tended to fall behind with their finances in August and September, just when they had to buy school supplies for their children.

That realization, combined with 23 years of experience as an elementary school teacher, motivated Ungerer to start Kids R First, a nonprofit group that provides basic school supplies to families in need. The organization has been growing ever since. This year, Ungerer anticipates that Kids R First will help 25,000 students in 96 schools across Fairfax and Loudoun counties.

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Washington Post, July 29, 2015

Ball’s Bluff marker replaced

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Eight months after the theft of a roadside historical marker commemorating the Battle of Ball’s Bluff in Leesburg, a new marker has been erected in its place.

More than 100 people gathered July 18 for the unveiling and dedication of the replacement marker. Positioned on the Route 15 Bypass, just north of Battlefield Parkway, it gives a brief description of the Oct. 21, 1861, Civil War battle that was waged along the Potomac River, less than a mile away.

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Washington Post, July 24, 2015

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Fighting childhood obesity

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Children will be able to learn more about where their food comes from — and how eating locally grown food contributes to a healthy lifestyle — through a program that is coming to the Mosaic Central Farm Market in Merrifield on Sunday.

The Junior League of Northern Virginia’s Market Explorers program is part of a larger effort to combat childhood obesity.

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Washington Post, July 15, 2015