Arlington Church of the Brethren, in conjunction with Bethel United Church of Christ and St. Hildegard’s Old Catholic Church. sponsors a Monthly Service Project the 4th Saturday each month. These projects are for everyone and benefit agencies in the local area.  At times we expand the outreach to world-wide concerns.

The latest project was held January 28 at the Church of the Brethren in the Boulevard Manor neighborhood. “No-Sew” scarves were created for ASPAN clients.  Past projects have ranged from gathering to assemble health care kits for a clinic in rural Guatemala (Bethel UCC is a sponsor) to collecting holiday food items for AFAC or assembling organic garden seed packets for the community.

Contact  Laura Dely, Project Coordinator. ( laura.dely AT gmail.com; or use form below)

Coming Up Next:                                        

Emergency Preparedness                                                                                       Feb. 25 10:0 a.m. – noon 

We will gather for at least two workshops that will help us to learn how we can better serve our communities in times of need. Each of these will last one hour, with a coffee break in-between, and then be repeated, so you may take both, or just what you feel will best prepare you to be a great volunteer:

  A.  How to Be Ready, with the Arlington County Office of Emergency Management Director

 B. Meet Your CERT Coordinator (Community Emergency Response Team)

 If there is sufficient interest, we will also offer a third workshop:

 C.  CPR Training from the Heart Center (This class will begin at 9:00 a.m., and runs up to 3 hours)

 We will need to sign up at least 10 people in advance for this workshop, which costs $50 person. (20 people costs $35 person,). You will learn the skills and knowledge you will need in an emergency. This class from the Heart Center of Northern Virginia combines classroom and hands-on skills practice. Students will learn how to perform compressions, ventilations, the Heimlich maneuver, and rescue breathing. All CPR courses also include AED/Defibrillator training.                                                         Please send an e-mail to project coordinator Laura Dely by Feb. 20 to sign up

March 24, 2012: Plant-A-Row Packets: Make & Deliver to the community to engage in AFAC’s effort to increase the fresh. local produce available for its clients. This will be in conjunction with the national “Ecumenical Days” that this year will be in the D.C. area. The theme will be “Sustainability.”

April 28, 2012: Recycled Crafts for Mother’s Day Gifts                                        Building on Earth Day, we’ll learn how to use all kinds of materials we might otherwise throw away to create handbags, fancy mirrors and picture frames, and more. Great event for Dad’s day out with the kids.

Completed Monthly Projects Include:

September 17 – A successful event raised a van-load of cereal and other food donations plus considerable cash donations.

Neighbors bring their documents for secure shredding.

October 15 – CROP WALK in Arlington. You can donate to the COB Team at this site: Arlington COB CROP Walk Team

October 22 – Another successful project was held at Arlington Church of the Brethren. 15 kits were assembled, 5 are being completed and 13 were dropped off. (Thanks to the Young Women’s Professional organization).  These kits are destined for the Lighthouse Vision of God Clinic in El Salvador.

November  – AFAC has begun a new initiative to supply at risk children with enough food for a weekend, delivered in a back-pack. We will collect FOOD DONATIONS for these and other needed items during the month and deliver the packages to AFAC for distribution. Any kind of food donation may be brought to the church, a bit will be outside the main doors AND to the Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service being held on the 23rd. 7:00 p.m. sponsored by all three congregations. (See above link or scroll down for complete list or contact us for a flyer about AFAC’s Backpack Buddies.)

Fill out this form to contact us with your interest for the monthly service project. We look forward to serving with you.

AFAC – Backpack Buddies

The Backpack Buddies program provides food to homeless children in the Arlington County Public Schools System.  At any one time, the school system estimates that there are upwards of 300 homeless children attending the public schools in the County.  These children often live in transient housing, which have minimal or no food or kitchens available for use. Their main meal of the day is at the school they attend. On weekends and over long holidays, these children often go with minimal or no food.

The Backpack Buddies began in September 2010 as a pilot program at one elementary school. In September 2011, the program will be expanded to all of the Arlington County Public Schools, adding upwards of 300 clients to the approximately 1,350 families AFAC is serving weekly.

The Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) provides selected food items from food drive donations and from food purchased specifically for this program and provides that food to the schools.  Examples include: fresh fruit, granola bars, microwavable meals, peanut butter & jelly, microwavable soups

Food for each backpack costs approximately $18.00 per week.

Staff at the schools pack the food in backpacks and provide the backpacks to students registered in the program on Fridays prior to the weekend.  The student can then return the backpack to the school on Monday so the cycle can begin anew.

How you can help:

AFAC is currently seeking volunteers who can deliver the food to the schools on Friday mornings and assist staff in filling the backpacks at the schools. Food donations specifically for this program and donations to support the program on a continuing basis are also needed. For financial contributions, please visit our website: http://www.afac.org/donate/funds.php or call 703-845-8486 for more information