When the paralyzing February snowstorms hit the region, the American Red Cross staffed emergency shelters in the area. Oak Marr was the shelter nearest to Vienna-Oakton. Getting the Red Cross workers to the shelter was a challenge. Enter Volunteer Fairfax.

Michael Sacks is an amateur radio operator, a member of the Fairfax County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES). When Fairfax County opened up emergency shelters during the Feb. 6-7 snowstorm, the Fairfax County Office of Emergency Management (OEM) notified Volunteer Fairfax that the Red Cross and family services employees needed rides from their homes to the shelters where they would be working. Marcelo Ferreira, emergency response program coordinator for Volunteer Fairfax, sent out an urgent e-mail blast asking for volunteers with four wheeled-drive vehicles to assist. ARES, with about 40 active members, was on the list. Sacks immediately responded.

Sacks’ SUV is outfitted with an mobile emergency communications center. He lives on Vale Road in Oakton, but said he was able to get out of Vale with no issues on Sunday morning. “I’m pretty prepared for anything,” he said. Good thing, too, since only major roads were plowed during the storm.

Why did he brave the elements, leaving his wife and kids in a dry, warm home? “I did it because that’s the way I was brought up,” said Sacks. “You give in life. When something happens, you get up and do something.”



VOLUNTEER FAIRFAX is composed of individuals, corporations and nonprofits that register to be part of the Volunteer Fairfax community of service providers. From Free Tax Assistance Day offered by Deloitte to civic groups in the field, thousands of hours of volunteer service contribute to the welfare of Fairfax County.

Volunteers for Change, an arm of Volunteer Fairfax, provides flexible weekend and evening volunteer opportunities for adults of all ages who cannot make a regular commitment to Volunteer Fairfax. The program offers between 40 and 50 one-time opportunities to serve each month, dedicating from one to four hours. Volunteers prepare emergency food kits for families in crisis, tutor adults, work with children in shelters, and remove invasive weeds, along with a host of other projects. Work takes place in the evenings or on weekends. Volunteers take a one-time, one-hour orientation.

Putting together Valentine’s Day cards and gifts for children in foster care is a signature project of Volunteers for Change, one that frequently includes families.

VolunteerFest is an annual community-wide day of service, at which volunteer nonprofit organizations join together on National Make-a-Difference Day. Project opportunities are countywide.



TO SACKS, the world has three kinds of people: those who get involved, those who sit still and those who run away. Sacks puts himself in the first group, as did a large number of other volunteers who turned out in treacherous conditions to lend a hand, or wheels as it was, during the snowfall.

Volunteer Fairfax has a memorandum of understanding with Fairfax County OEM, making it the lead agency to identify, process and coordinate spontaneous volunteers. Volunteer Fairfax is a hub for several nonprofits who provide volunteer services, including the Citizen Corps Council of which ARES is a part.

“ARES really stepped it up this time with radio and 4 X 4 drivers,” said Ferreira. “Their volunteers were extremely engaged.”



FOR MORE INFORMATION on Volunteer Fairfax, go to www.volunteerfairfax.org or call 703-246-3553. Its office is located at 10530 Page Ave., Fairfax. Amateur radio operators interested in joining the Fairfax County ARES will find more information at www.qsl.net/fairfaxares/main.htm.