For Ebony Belt, the founder of Maryland-based nonprofit Divine by Design, success is serving disadvantaged youth by being the person she needed when she was growing up – especially when it comes to the mental health of young women.
Now, with intentions to partner with the nonprofit United Community by the end of this year, Belt hopes to bring Divine by Design’s mentoring, counseling and community service to Fairfax County.
The Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB) has begun operations at its newly expanded Northern Virginia Distribution Center.
After more than a year of construction, the nonprofit unveiled the 43,000-square-foot warehouse in Newington with a ribbon-cutting ceremony last Thursday (Sept. 26), celebrating the facility as a critical step forward in its ability to help feed people across the D.C. area.
If you nearly get swiped by a turning car while walking across a street in Fairfax County, there’s a good chance that you or another community member has had a similar experience in that same spot before, newly released survey data indicates.
The inaugural “Near Miss/Dangerous Location” summary report from the Fairfax chapter of Northern Virginia Families for Safe Streets (NOVA FSS) found that 90% of the incidents recorded by pedestrians and cyclists since 2020 were recurring events — a higher rate than in Arlington (82%) or Alexandria (74%), the two other jurisdictions analyzed by the volunteer-run nonprofit.
Two local businesses are partnering up to host a food drive in Reston next month.
New Trail Cycling & Strength, the independent fitness studio in Lake Anne Plaza, and The Reston Letter, an online and print community newsletter about Reston, will collect donations to support Food for Neighbors. The drive is hosted by New Trail.
The Washington West Film Festival will be cooking with Kevin Bacon when it returns to Fairfax County next month for its 13th year.
The “Footloose” star is set to visit the county both virtually and in-person as part of the philanthropic festival, which announced a varied lineup of movies this week that will screen from Oct. 10-13 at Look Dine-In Cinemas in Reston (11940 Market Street) and Tysons (1667 Silver Hill Drive).
Dozens of volunteers will break out the work gloves and garden shears this Saturday (Sept. 14) to eliminate invasive plants around the “LOVE” sign by the Washington & Old Dominion Trail in Vienna.
The cleanup will clear the way for a native plant meadow that its organizer, the nonprofit Sustainability Matters, hopes will spawn similar beautification efforts all along the 45-mile-long regional trail.
A nonprofit organization in downtown Herndon is celebrating 50 years of giving back to the community.
The Closet of the Greater Herndon Area, a faith-based nonprofit organization that distributes affordable home goods, clothing and other items, marked its 50th anniversary this month. The milestone will be formally celebrated at an invite-only event in late October.
A Tysons-based mental health nonprofit recognized two milestones with one celebration earlier this week.
The Women’s Center held a ribbon-cutting and open house event on Tuesday (Sept. 10) to mark 50 years of serving in the D.C. area and formally unveil its new office at Courthouse Center (8230 Old Courthouse Road) in Tysons.
Fairfax County is seeing a rise in food insecurity, with nearly 27% of households struggling to afford enough nutritious food, the Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB) found in its 2024 Hunger Report.
Though food insecurity has increased across all income levels, the sharpest growth has been among middle-income households earning between $100,000 and $150,000 annually. For those families, the cost of living in Fairfax County and rising prices for essentials like housing and food have outpaced wage growth.
Going forward, Centre Ridge Elementary School will incorporate vegetables into the classroom as well as the cafeteria, thanks to a newly installed garden.
A “learning garden” from the nonprofit Captain Planet Foundation was unveiled at the Centreville school yesterday (Thursday). Built by a group of sixth-grade students and donated by Cox Enterprises, the conglomerate that owns the broadband company Cox Communications, the vegetable and herb garden will serve as an educational tool, while also providing access to produce.
