nonprofit – Page 3 – Notes n Letters

After-school program helps low-income families

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Volunteer Lauren Barber (center) helps kids with reading and homework at INMED’s new after-school program.

Volunteer tutor Lauren Barber (center) helps children with their reading and homework in one of the after-school classrooms at INMED’s Family and Youth Opportunity Center in Sterling.

As part of its growing presence in the Sterling area, INMED Partnerships for Children has begun offering a free after-school program for children from low-income families.

INMED launched the program, which provides tutors and mentors to help children with homework, at its Family and Youth Opportunity Center on Ridgetop Circle this month. The center serves children ages 6 to 12 who live in Sterling-area neighborhoods with a high percentage of low-income families, said Maria Vasquez, executive director of the Opportunity Center. Many of the children’s parents do not speak English, she said.

Read more…

Washington Post, November 29, 2015

Civil War artifacts donated

In 1861, Union Army Capt. Edward Todd of the 2nd Vermont Infantry was wounded at the Battle of First Manassas. He went home to Vermont for two years to recover before returning to fight in several more Civil War battles in Virginia.

More than 150 years later, Todd’s wartime haversack — a large, purselike bag he used to carry personal belongings — has returned to Manassas. The haversack is part of a collection of Civil War artifacts donated to the Manassas Museum in the summer by Northern Virginia Community College and retired history professor Charles Poland Jr.

Full story…

Washington Post, November 29, 2015

Fairfax “foodraiser” brings in tons

For five years, Our Daily Bread has set a goal of raising 10,000 pounds of donations for its annual fall food drive. This year, for the first time, the Fairfax nonprofit group reached that target.

More than 1,500 people were at Fairfax High School on Sunday for the Complete the Circle “FoodRaiser,” bringing 11,143 pounds of food and other household items that will be distributed to people in need, organizers said. The donations will go to clients of Our Daily Bread and the Lorton Community Action Center, which was a partner in the event for the first time.

More…

Washington Post, November 12, 2015

Little Free Library launched in Manassas

A group of Prince William writers, joined by Manassas City Council member Ian T. Lovejoy (R), formally launched the city’s first Little Free Library in a ribbon-cutting ceremony Aug. 8.

Members of Write by the Rails, the Prince William County chapter of the Virginia Writers Club, constructed the tiny library. It will be mounted in front of the New School, which is slated to open this fall in the old post office building on Church Street in Old Town Manassas.

Read more…

Washington Post, August 16, 2015

Nonprofit helps with school supplies

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.

Read more…

Washington Post, July 29, 2015

Ball’s Bluff marker replaced

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.

Read More…

Washington Post, July 24, 2015

Going solar in Fairfax

Homeowners in Herndon, Vienna and Falls Church have until Tuesday to take advantage of a program that can make it more affordable to start powering their homes with solar energy.

The Solarize NOVA program helps homeowners save money on converting to solar power through free home assessments and bulk discounts, said officials with the Local Energy Alliance Program, which sponsors the initiative with the Northern Virginia Regional Commission.

Read more…

Washington Post, June 25, 2015

Tree planting to remember soldiers

The Journey Through Hallowed Ground will hold its first Living Legacy tree-planting ceremony of the year April 12, when it will add 500 trees to the Inn at Meander Plantation in Madison County, Va.

National Guard members will join wounded veterans and descendants of Civil War soldiers for the planting ceremony, which will be on the 150th anniversary of Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox.

HealthWorks’ finances improve

HealthWorks for Northern Virginia, a Leesburg-based community health center, has returned to stable financial condition after a year of uncertainty, the organization’s top officials announced this month at a meeting of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors’ finance committee.

Washington Post, February 22, 2015

Jane’s Food Closet

With the 10th anniversary of her mother’s death approaching, Amy Sills Eggers figured she could “sit around and be sad about it,” or she could do something. She came up with a project that would not only honor the memory of her mother, Jane Sills, but also help families of students at Lake Ridge Middle School in Woodbridge, where Sills taught language arts for more than a decade.

Eggers, 41, of Clifton, is working with administrators at Lake Ridge to set up Jane’s Food Closet, which will provide food and other household items to students whose families need assistance.

Washington Post, January 13, 2015