Congregational Connection

Summer months can be tough on nonprofits like ALIVE!, but we’ve seen a huge outpouring of support from our local business community.

Recently, the Safeway Foundation presented ALIVE! with a $8,260 grant for our food program and Giant Foods is contributing a portion of floral bouquet sales. We’ve also seen local realtors with McEnearney Associates, Coldwell Banker Realty, and TTR Sotheby’s organize food drives and donate hot meals at ALIVE!’s distribution events.

These action go a long way to help us meet the increased demand on our programs as food costs rise and we see increased demand from families looking for assistance during the school break.
 

Last week, volunteers with Breaks With Impact visited the Bus Barn to sort food donations and to bag groceries for ALIVE!’s upcoming food distribution events. It takes a big team to get ready for our last Saturday events, so if you know any groups looking for an indoor volunteer opportunity please let us know!

Also, we need two more volunteers to distribute information about ALIVE! at our booth this Thursday from 5pm-7pm at the Bloom and on Saturday 2pm-6pm at Samuel Madden. Staff will supply materials- if interested contact Xiomara Hernand​ez. 

Have you created your profile in our new volunteer registration system? There’s lots of different ways to get involved with ALIVE! and we have opportunities that meet everyone’s schedule.

Visit our website to learn more and to sign up for your next shift! 
 
Fight hunger in Alexandria with every purchase of a Giant Food Bloomin’ 4 Good Bouquet!
 
Each time someone purchases the Bloomin’ 4 Good Bouquet with the purple hanging tag, $1 will be donated to ALIVE! during the month of July. Visit the Giant Food locations in Alexandria to pick one up.
 

Wishing a fond farewell to Ryan Willis, ALIVE!’s Development and Communications Director. We are sad to see Ryan go but we know he will be doing amazing work in California working in early childhood education.

During his tenure with the ALIVE! team, Ryan played critical leadership roles in the launch of the new Food Hub, our new development database, coordinated a hugely successful Spring2ACTion fundraising drive, and so many other projects. Thank you for everything you’ve done for Alexandrians in need!

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.

ALIVE! Food Distribution Calendar – July 2022

ALIVE! Food Distribution Calendar – August 2022

 

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 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, July 30 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)

Saturday, August 27 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, August 11 from 4:30pm – 6:00pm
Ramsay Rec Center (5650 Sanger Ave)

Friday, August 12 from 4:30pm – 6:00pm
Casa Chirilagua (4109 Mt. Vernon Ave)

Friday, August 19 from 10:30am – Noon
Old Town Community Church (212 S. Washington St)

Saturday, August 20 from 8:00am – 10:00am
Fairlington United Methodist Church (3900 King St)

Saturday, August 20 from 10:00am – Noon
UNCUT Youth (1501 Cameron St)

ALIVE! Food Hub (510-F South Van Dorn Street)
The ALIVE! Food Hub offers Alexandria residents food, personal items, cleaning supplies, school supplies and connections to information other services.

Hours of operation:
Tuesdays Noon – 6:30pm
Wednesdays Noon – 6:30pm
Thursdays Noon – 6:30pm
Fridays 10:00am – 1:00pm
Saturdays 10:00am – 1:00pm

Grab and Go breakfast and lunch meals are available at no cost for for all ACPS students and children over the age of two, Mondays and Wednesdays from 7:30am – 11:00am at the following locations:

  • William Ramsay Elementary School (5700 Sanger Ave)
  • Cora Kelly School for Math, Science and Technology (3600 Commonwealth Ave)
  • Patrick Henry K-8 School (4643 Taney Ave)
  • Alexandria High School (3330 King St)

And available on Mondays, and Wednesdays at our Pop-Up sites located at:

  • Corner of Florence Drive and Four Mile Road
    11:20am to 11:45am
  • 5021 Seminary Road (The Graham at Southern Towers)
    10:45am to 11:10am 

No sign up or registration is required to receive meals. 

Dates of Operation:
Monday, July 25 through August 12, 2022.

More information is available at the ACPS Office of School Nutrition Services

ALIVE! Programs and Office Closures

We are looking to restart ALIVE!’s Furniture Program soon! Please let us know if you can provide overflow storage for donated furniture and if you would like to volunteer to pickup items.

Please note that ALIVE! offices and programs will be closed from August 22nd through August 26th for a staff retreat.
Thank you to everyone who donated to ALIVE! through AmazonSmile during Prime Day! You can continue to invest in ALIVE! all year long by making Amazon purchases through AmazonSmile.
 
AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support your favorite charity every time you shop, at absolutely no additional cost to you. Donate to ALIVE! by visiting smile.amazon.com, clicking on “Your Account,” and selecting “Change your Charity.”