Community Relations Deputy Valarie Wright delivered several boxes of nonperishable canned and dry goods to ALIVE!’s food program as part of an annual Alexandria Sheriff’s Office tradition.
Wright led a month-long drive among staff who donated food, such as canned tuna and meat, jars of peanut butter, boxes of pancake mix, and breakfast cereals, as well as cash that was used to purchase more food. Then Wright delivered several boxes of food to Beth Campbell, a volunteer with ALIVE!’s food program that aids almost 1,000 families in need who are referred by local social service agencies and member congregations. ALIVE! (ALexandrians InVolved Ecumenically) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization of volunteers from more than 40 religious congregations and the community working together to help those in need in Alexandria.
Later in the afternoon, Wright and Deputy George Burnham assisted in Project Thanksgiving, an area-wide effort to provide families in need with complete Thanksgiving dinners. Wright and Burnham went to IBM in Gaithersburg to pick up 35 Thanksgiving dinners with turkeys and all the fixings and then delivered them to Hopkins House, an Alexandria charity that will share them with families in need.
On Tuesday, Nov. 20, Chief Deputy Tony DiCesare was scheduled to pick up eight additional dinners at Lockheed Martin in Manassas and deliver them to Hopkins House. Both IBM and Lockheed Martin provide the funds to purchase the dinners and their employees arrange for the food purchases and meal coordination.