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TextVolunteer in your Community
Community Engagement Tip of the Month: Help Pack 100 Care Boxes for our Troops this Saturday
Join Little River Glen Senior Center (4001 Barker Court) on Saturday,
January 9, 2010 at 1 p.m as they try to meet their goal of packing and
shipping 100 boxes. In conjunction with the America’s Adopt a Soldier
program, Packing Day is a way to support our troops as we gather and pack
donated items as care packages that are then sent to Service members
overseas.
Little River Glen is looking for all members of the community to come
together in one of three ways:
1)Collecting or donating items to pack in the
boxes. Individuals or groups can collect items to be placed in the boxes.
All items can be dropped off at Little River Glen Senior Center.
2)Donating funds to ship one or more boxes. The
cost to mail one box is approximately $13.00. You can make your check or
money order payable to USPS (United States Postal Service). Checks or
money orders can be mailed or delivered to the Little River Glen Senior
Center, 4001 Barker Court, Fairfax, VA 22032. Every little bit
counts.
3)Providing a couple of hours of your time on
Saturday, January 9 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Little River Glen Senior
Center.
Those interested in volunteering on Saturday, January 9 should call 703-503-8703 to add your name to the list of people supporting America’s Adopt a Soldier program. A partial list of suggested items can be found below, while a full list is at: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/rec/news/hspttdo.htm.
- Small bags or individually wrapped snacks or cans of Pringles, pretzels, cookies, crackers, nuts, trail mix
- Disposable Cameras
- AT&T Global Prepaid Phone Cards
- DVDs, CDs Video Games
- Gel Insoles
- Soap, Body Wash, Hand Sanitizer
Income Tax Assistance Program Looking for Volunteers
Get engaged! You can make a real difference by helping hard-working people in our community file their taxes and, in many cases, obtain tax credits and refunds. The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program, locally known as the Northern Virginia CASH Campaign – (Creating Assets, Savings and Hope) provides free tax preparation services to working families and individuals who earned less than $49,000 in 2009.
A local coalition of public agencies, businesses, libraries, faith and community-based groups will operate the program at 17 sites throughout Northern Virginia starting January 23, 2010.
Volunteers can help prepare tax returns or serve as greeters, screeners, site coordinators and interpreters. This is a short-term, focused volunteer effort requiring only a few hours a week during tax season, with an immediate positive impact.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provides 11 hours of free tax certification training to volunteers. In 2009, 488 volunteers helped 3,280 low-income working families in Northern Virginia file their taxes for free, resulting in tax refunds of over $4.4 million. Many families qualified for the Earned Income Tax Credit and other tax refunds, which provided much-needed additional income for food and basic necessities.
To register as a volunteer, or for more information about the Northern Virginia CASH Campaign, please contact James Do with the Fairfax County Department of Family Services, at 571-749-7838 or go to www.nvacash.org to register online.
Volunteers Coming Together to Prevent Hypothermia
Thousands of volunteers in Fairfax County are coming together this winter to help protect those in the community who are homeless and could be at risk of hypothermia. About 200 adults sought refuge in the county’s emergency hypothermia shelters last week.
As we progress through this cold spell, local faith communities, businesses and nonprofit organizations are partnering with Fairfax County government to prevent hypothermia deaths. This community-based effort supplements the year-round shelter and additional winter capacity offered by the county’s homeless shelters.
This winter several hypothermia prevention sites are available thanks to the commitment and support of the community. Shelter sites are open every night through March 31st in three regions of the county and until March 15th in a fourth region.
IMPORTANT: If you see an unsheltered person at night, and you think they could be at risk of hypothermia, call the county police non-emergency phone line at 703-691-2131. County emergency personnel will determine which shelter option is best in the situation.
Supervisor Cook would particularly like to thank the following faith communities who have opened their buildings to assist these individuals over the winter: St. Stephen’s UMC, Lord of Life Lutheran, St. Mary of Sorrows, St. Matthew’s UMC, Annandale UMC and Burke UMC.
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