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A spotlight on volunteer efforts to help those less fortunate in the holiday season. Leesburg Girl Scouts are joining with the Loudoun County Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Prevention/Intervention team for the second your to give holiday presents to needy families. "Project Elf," the brainchild of Bethann Laign, Service Unit Manager of Girl Scouts Unit 70-9 in Leesburg, is a service project in which the Girl Scouts adopt 60 families served by the Loudoun County Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Prevention/Intervention team. The Girl Scouts will drop off gifts an clothing for each member of each family next week at the Mental Health Center. The Leesburg…
Contributions to the Salvation Army's donations have been down this season, the result of a sluggish economy and because Giant Food locations have cut down on bell-ringing time. According to a report released by the Salvation Army National Capital Area Command on Tuesday, Giant's cutbacks in collection time have caused expected donations to drop by $272,610 in the region during the first 21 days of the campaign. However, while this has cost regional Salvation Army chapters hundreds of thousands of dollars in expected donations, in Loudoun County the bigger problem is a lack of visibility. …
The Town of Leesburg is asking residents to participate in its annual Toys for Tots drive, now underway. The toy drive is a partnership with the Marine Corps League of Loudoun County, Detachment #1205, which supports the Marine Corps Reserve's Toys for Tots campaign. Toys can be dropped off at four locations throughout town until Dec. 17, and will benefit area organizations that work with the less fortunate. Collection locations are: Town Hall, 25 West Market Street Leesburg Police Department, 65 Plaza Street NE Ida Lee Recreation Center, 60 Ida Lee Drive NW Leesburg Executive Airport, 1001…
For Hispanic families in Loudoun County, isolation from the larger community can be an added challenge in becoming part of it. But celebrating Thanksgiving and other United States holidays helps Latino families integrate into the culture, according to Maria Vasquez, the director of INMED Partnerships for Children's Loudoun County chapter. INMED Partnerships for Children's Loudoun County chapter celebrated a Thanksgiving dinner on Tuesday night at the Douglass Community Center in Leesburg. The dinner was donated by the Leesburg Police Department and Spanky's Shenanigan's Pub. The Leesburg …
The eighth annual Freeze Your Gizzard Cross Country 5K and 1 Mile Fun Run was held Saturday at Ida Lee Park. Hosted by the Town of Leesburg Parks and Recreation, in partnership with Loudoun Interfaith, the race attracted more than 600 people from Leesburg and surrounding areas. Special Events Supervisor Rachael Goodwin said this year's course was a bit different from past races. "We have a few more hills and steep climbs in the terrain," Goodwin said, making the course unfamiliar to those who have participated in the past. That didn't seem to be a concern, however, for runner Roselynn Lewis…
To Edith Chinn, standing in a long line on a cold morning was worth the knowledge that she would be able to share Thanksgiving meal with her grandson. Chinn, who lives in Cascades Village Senior Center in Sterling, was one of the many beneficiaries of "Neighbors Helping Neighbors," the first Thanksgiving food drive held by Loudoun Interfaith Relief. Chinn waited more than 20 minutes in the line Friday morning, but said she looked forward to preparing the donated food on Thanksgiving for her grandson, who is her primary caregiver. "I think it's great," she said. The organization collected…
Despite the sluggish economy, many residents of Loudoun County still have much to be thankful for this year. However, at a time when many people give thanks for plenty, some people are worried about putting food on their table at all. Loudoun Interfaith Relief will distribute nearly 40,000 pounds of food to needy families beginning Friday morning, hoping to share some of the community's Thanksgiving bounty with those less fortunate. "Of course the public this time of year is very generous," said David Dwyer, director of operations for Loudoun Interfaith Relief. Volunteers worked from …
TD Bank’s Leesburg location lent a hand to the Volunteers of America last week, as they helped sort through clothes at its Loudoun County Transitional Housing Shelter. A team of volunteers from the bank’s Leesburg location at 522 E. Market St., including team captain Francie Baroody, Sean Baldwin, Alexis Hacket , John Askar, Chris Arabia, Sarah Wagner and Harry Hager, sorted donated clothes by type, and also removed those clothes that were to worn or moldy to use, according to Lauren Sullivan, a spokeswoman for the bank. The activity was part of a region-wide effort by TD Bank to assist local…
