The Fund for Alexandria’s Child
Sign up for the Holiday Sharing Program to purchase gifts and/or gift cards for needy children and families. Purchases should be delivered December 13, 14, or 15.
Healthy Families Alexandria
Enjoy “A Broadway Christmas Carol” at MetroStage on Thursday, December 15 to support this local home visiting program.
Carpenter’s Shelter
Help out with the Alternative Holiday Giving program or the Target Gift Collection.
Are you on the look-out for a new dress, new shoes or boots, a new handbag, or some new bling for those impending holiday parties? Looking for a unique gift for a friend or sister?
Shop at Hysteria or the Shoe Hive on DECEMBER 1. If you mention The Giving Circle of Alexandria, 15% of your sale will be contributed to our next community gift!
Thursday, December 1
10:00 am to 8:00 pm
Hysteria & The Shoe Hive
125 & 127 South Fairfax Street
Tell your friends! Have fun!
The Giving Circle of Alexandria is pleased to present the following gifts:
- $4,000 to New Hope Housing, Inc. to provide emergency childcare to families living in the Alexandria Community Shelter (ACS), a city-owned shelter. This childcare is short-term, emergency basis to bridge the period before City of Alexandria support is available, or for other short term needs for families in the shelter.
- $2,000 to the Alexandria Tutoring Consortium to expand ATC’s kindergarten program, Reading Readiness.
- $2,000 to the Dream Dog Foundation to bring “Kids Empowering Kids” program to one or more ACPS schools in need. The program empowers youth with vital communication, literacy and decision making skills through innovative, fun interactive experiential learning program. Mayor Euille has already said he’ll be in the video with the kids so stay tuned for the final product!
- $2,000 to The Reading Connection to expand the Book Club program to include Center for Alexandria’s Children.
Thank you to all of our investors! These gifts would not be possible without you.
Plan to attend our upcoming events:
- Fall Forum — Thursday, October 20 @ 6:30 pm at St. Paul’s Church, 228 South Pitt Street in Old Town.
- Circle Time — Thursday, November 03 @ 9:30 am at St. Elmo’s Cafe on Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray
Also Our Renew-Your-Investment Drive is under way. Please renew your investment by check or online!
We also have a One-Off Volunteer Opportunity coming up. We would like to do a family-friendly Community Service event in early November — might you have an idea for an activity? Or would you to assist with it? Please contact Pamela Larson to discuss.
Looking forward to seeing you at a Giving Circle event or just around town soon.
Cathleen Phelps and Karen Snow
Co-Presidents
Our Fall Forum will be held the evening of Thursday, October 20, at St. Paul’s Church at 228 South Pitt Street in Old Town. Our speaker will be retired Alexandria Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge Stephen Rideout (pictured). Judge Rideout has a long and distinguished history as a leader in the juvenile and family court arena. He has been a tireless advocate throughout his career for children and their families.
Additionally, Dr. Travis Wright of The George Washington University will be providing our investors with an update to his research on the developmental playgroups.
The Fall Forum is always a festive event and we will be serving light appetizers and wine. It is a chance to catch up with friends and hear about local issues important to each of us and to the Giving Circle as a whole. And, frankly, it will be a really fun night out!
Smiles and excitement abounded at Alexandria’s Cora Kelly and Jefferson Houston elementary schools this week, as the Alexandria Aces helped the Giving Circle and Wright to Read distribute all those summer reading packs so many of you contributed to during our book drive and Baskets for Books events with Wright to Read this spring.
Compared with children from middle-income families, children from lower income families can finish a summer vacation up to three months
behind in reading comprehension. The results are cumulative and by the end of elementary school, low-income kids can be almost three years behind better-off kids.
As student-athletes, the Alexandria Aces were the perfect role models to convey how important reading is to success in life. Jefferson Houston’s librarian, Lagina Gross stated, “It’s so important for kids to hear from members of the community that reading is important. I can say it all day long, but they need to hear it from a wide range of people.” Indeed, one boy asked the Aces what it was like to “have to study while playing sports,” opening a dialogue on the importance of developing good habits of reading and studying early in life.
Over 1,200 Summer Reading Packs and some 6,000 books were distributed at the two schools. So, if you see a child with a yellow backpack with a big “A” on it this summer, ask them what they’re reading!
