July 18, 2002
Bias Incident is Investigated
<bt>Fairfax County police are investigating a bias incident that happened Sunday on Little Rocky Run Circle in Centreville. A resident discovered that, sometime between Saturday night and Sunday morning, someone had marked his car with religious-based writings and symbols.
Written in duct tape, the markings were able to be removed without permanent damage to the vehicle. Police Sgt. Ken Baine said the markings seemed to target two different groups: "It could have been either Muslims or Jews."
Police recognize the potential harm that bias crimes and incidents can have in a community, and they encourage people to report them. All bias crimes and incidents are investigated thoroughly. Anyone with information about this incident or those involved is asked to call police at 703-691-2131.
<sh>Carwash Saturday for Ashley
<bt>Girl Scout Service Unit 5411 will hold a fund-raising carwash, Saturday, July 20, for Centreville's Ashley Dubey, 5. It will be at the Mobil gas station in the Centreville Square Shopping Center, off Routes 28/29, from 8 a.m.-noon.
Ashley is in a rehabilitation hospital in Charlottesville after being struck, May 2, by a hit-and-run driver on Old Centreville Road. Proceeds from the carwash will help her family with her medical bills. Contributions, payable to Harsh and Dubey, may also be sent to: Bank of America, 14122 Lee Highway, Centreville, VA 20120. Various local businesses also have donation bottles. The one in the Centreville Burger King recently yielded $234 toward the cause.
<sh>Meet the Liberty Lions
<bt>The local area's newest middle school, Liberty, now has an official mascot, as well as school colors. All the upcoming sixth- and seventh-graders voted, the end of June, choosing lions for the mascot and dark blue and white for the colors. The 180,000 square-foot building is along Union Mill Road, just up the street from Centreville High. It currently has an enrollment of 1,075 students.
<sh>CCF Meeting is Tuesday
<bt>The Centreville Community Foundation (CCF) is hard at work on plans for the annual Centreville Day celebration in September. The group's next meeting is Tuesday, July 23, at 7 p.m., in Supervisor Michael R. Frey's (R-Sully) conference room in the Fort Hill Building, 5900 Centreville Road in Centreville. Call Sandy Shapiro at 703-266-3653.
<sh>Sully District Council Mtg.
<bt>The Sully District Council of Citizens Associations will meet Wednesday, July 24, at 7:30 p.m., in conference room 7 of the Fairfax County Government Center. Call Mark McConn at 703-818-9124.
<sh>Park Authority to Meet
<bt>The next meeting of the Fairfax County Park Authority will be Wednesday, July 24, at 7:30 p.m., in the Herrity Building, 12055 Government Center Parkway, suite 900, in Fairfax. Call Judy Pedersen at 703-324-8662.
<sh>WFCM Food Pantry Needs
<bt>Western Fairfax Christian Ministry's (WFCM) food pantry — which provides food to local needy families — is in serious need of several items. They are: Breakfast cereal, canned pastas, fruit, juices and meats (salmon and chicken), peanut butter, jelly and spaghetti sauce.
To donate, call 703-815-3238, or bring these things to the Shepherd Center. It's open Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., and is between Fashion Bug and Payless Shoes in the Sully Plaza Shopping Center at 13924 Metrotech Drive in Chantilly.
<sh>Kids in Crisis Ministry
<bt>Western Fairfax Christian Ministry's (WFCM) Kids in Crisis Ministry provides emergency assistance to families impacted by a child's illness. Since such families are too distracted to research all the organizations that might help them, If anyone knows of a family in need, please advise them to call the hotline at 703-378-3045. Leave a message on the "Kids in Crisis" box, and a volunteer will return the call.
This program offers a safety net for families whose income or expenses are affected by a child's illness. Besides medical bills, they'll incur costs such as travel, babysitting, special equipment and home health care.
Even families with adequate health insurance may find it difficult to meet these expenses. Kids in Crisis aids in areas not covered by traditional health insurance policies. For more information, call the hotline or Karen Dolan at 703-266-3144.
<sh>Blood Urgently Needed
<bt>The Inova Blood Donor Center in the Centremed I Building on Route 29 in Centreville (across from the Centreville Multiplex Cinemas) is in urgent need of blood donations — especially O positive or negative, as well as A and B. They are accepted Tuesday-Friday, noon-8 p.m., and Saturday, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. To make an appointment to give blood, call (703) 322-1970, or just drop in at your own convenience.
<sh>WFCM Personnel Needs
<bt>The Western Fairfax Christian Ministries (WFCM) has several volunteer positions available.
* It needs a client coordinator to make follow-up calls to members of the community who have recently received assistance. This person would also cross-reference recipients with other WFCM services (food and clothing ministry). It would be a good job for someone who has to stay close to home.
* On-call volunteers are also needed. After receiving training, they'll monitor requests for help, coming from the local community, via a telephone mailbox. There's a social worker on staff, plus an extensive network of support to help and encourage people in self-sufficiency.
* WFCM's food pantry needs volunteers to work Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., and Saturdays, noon-2 p.m. To volunteer for any of these positions. or for more information, call 703-378-3045 and leave a message on box 7.
<sh>Food Pantry Needs
<bt>The Western Fairfax Christian Ministries (WFCM) food pantry is in need of several items. They are: Jelly, coffee, tea, juice boxes, syrup, oil, sugar, cereal, crackers, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, paper towels, toilet paper, cleaning products and diapers larger than infant and newborn.
The food pantry also needs volunteers, Thursdays, from noon-2 p.m. Needed, as well, are: Volunteers with trucks to help move heavy items, a volunteer handy-person good with phones, copy machines, faxes and thermostats, a volunteer to wash the Shepherd Center glass front entrance, artwork suitable for display in pantry waiting area, a vacuum, newer-model frost-free refrigerators and a laptop computer.
<sh>WFCM Needs Drivers
<bt>The Western Fairfax Christian Ministries is in need of drivers to take elderly people to medical appointments. Call (703) 378-3045 and press 7 to volunteer for this or any other WFCM ministry.
<sh>Meals on Wheels
<bt>The Clifton Meals on Wheels program urgently needs a volunteer to coordinate the delivery of meals to frail, elderly residents. Call the Fairfax Area Agency on Aging at (703) 324-5406.