Congregational Connection

ALIVE! Activities & Updates

It’s official!

Last week, ALIVE! held a grand opening ribbon cutting ceremony for our new Food Hub on the West End. As a sub-awardee of the City of Alexandria, ALIVE! received funding from the American Rescue Plan Act to open this brick and mortar location to distribute free food and to connect our neighbors in need with support services.

Clients will be able to visit this Food Hub at times that are more convenient to their schedules, and will be able to select the specific items they need in a market-like experience.

At this Food Hub, ALIVE! staff and volunteers will work to connect clients with other public and private support services. Having service navigators on site to provide information and help clients sign up for these services may provide just the boost they need to start up the path toward self-sustainability.

Opening the Food Hubs will not mean the end of ALIVE!’s traditional methods of distribution. To reach as many food insecure Alexandrians as we can, our monthly food distributions events around Alexandria will continue, as will select neighborhood pop-ups and provision of food to various food pantries.

ALIVE! Food Hub Hours of Operation:
Tuesdays Noon-6:30pm
Wednesdays Noon-6:30pm
Thursdays Noon-6:30pm
Fridays 10am-1pm
Saturdays 10am-1pm

Located at:
510-F South Van Dorn Street

The ALIVE! Food Hub offers Alexandria residents:
• food • personal items • cleaning supplies • school supplies • community • connections to information other services

You can see more at: https://www.alive-inc.org/foodhub/
A lot of care went into creating an inviting space for the new Food Hub. Through ALIVE!’s collaboration with the Oasis Alliance and the West End Business Association three murals from local artists well as the other design elements help to create a more welcoming space for everyone in our community. One of these murals is by Benay L. Walker and features the word “alive” in Arabic script. You can see more pictures the murals and from the Food Hub grand opening here.

Are you interested in seeing more? Drop by our new location on Monday, June 6th between 4pm and 7pm. Also, look for more information soon about the next ALIVE! Board meeting on Tuesday, June 7th at 7pm.
Thank you HomeGrown Restaurant Group, Alexandria Celebrates Women and Visit Del Ray for helping us to secure baby formula for Alexandria families in need! We’ve also recently received more than 2,000 reusable bags from our friends Alexandria Campaign on Adolescent Pregnancy and Transportation & Environmental Services,
If you know of anyone who is interested in donating baby formula, reusable bags, or food items please encourage them to drop donations off at the ALIVE! Food Warehouse (801 S. Payne Street) Monday through Friday, 9am until 4pm (closing at 7pm on Thursdays), and 9am until Noon on Saturdays.
All food donations must be sealed, personal sized, and non-bulk portions. No expired food or food packaged in glass containers will be accepted.
March Food Distribution

ALIVE!’s Food Distribution Schedule

ALIVE! strives to provide nutritious foods through direct distribution to our clients and by supporting Alexandria’s food pantries, meal kitchens, public schools, recreation centers, and other community partners.

Weekend Food Distribution:
ALIVE! distributes bags of food (groceries, produce, chicken, eggs, bread) at 3 sites one Saturday per month in the parking lot at each site. ALIVE! food distributions are for City of Alexandria residents. No is ID required.

Reusable Bags:
Please encourage referrals or clients to bring reusable bags to food distribution events so that ALIVE! can recycle them for future events. All reusable bags are accepted.

Saturday, June 25 from 8:30am – 10:30am
Drive-through:

  • Cora Kelly Elementary School (3600 Commonwealth Ave)
  • NVCC Alexandria Campus (parking lot B-1 via 500 Dawes Ave)

Walk-up:

  • Cora Kelly Elementary School (3600 Commonwealth Ave)
  • William Ramsay Rec Center (5650 Sanger Ave)

 

Pop-Up Food Distributions:

ALIVE! provides bags of food to specific neighborhoods and apartment buildings, in collaboration with our community partners, in the parking lot at each pop-up location. Drive-through and walk-up service available depending on site.

Thursday, June 9 from 4:30pm – 6:00pm
William Ramsay Rec Center (5650 Sanger Ave)

Friday, June 17 from 10:30am – 12:00pm
Old Town Community Church (212 S. Washington St)

Saturday, June 18 from 8:00am – 10:00am
Fairlington United Methodist Church (3900 King St)

Saturday, June 18 from 10:00am – 12:00pm
UNCUT Youth (1501 Cameron St)
Mark your calendars for Family Fun Day 2022 on Saturday, June 11th at William Ramsay Rec Center (5650 Sanger Ave).
The Center for Alexandria’s Children, Inc. is partnering with Kids’ First Years, the Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities, SCAN of Northern VA, the Department of Community & Human Services, and the Alexandria Police Department to provides more than 1000 people with wholesome free activities, entertainment and food. There will also be opportunities for families to learn about services provided by Alexandria’s agencies and non-profit organizations.
The Alexandria Health Department will have free, walk-in, COVID-19 vaccination clinics on through June 10th. No ID or insurance is required. You can find more information at: https://www.alexandriava.gov/Vaccines