St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church youth (from left) Ryan Coneway (Fort Hunt Elementary School, 6th Grade), Caroline Richard (Stratford Landing Elementary School, 5th Grade), Kevin Coneway (Fort Hunt, 4th Grade), Sophia Rees-Hoofnagle (Fort Hunt, 5th Grade) and Dylan Rees-Hoofnagle (Fort Hunt, 2nd Grade) help with the fifth annual Christmas tree sale. Photo by Tim Peterson.
In five years of selling Christmas trees, St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church in Alexandria has never sold more than this year. According to Ted Boling with the church, they surpassed last year’s numbers by over 40 percent each day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving. “We attribute it to great weather and a great reputation for fresh, full Fraser firs,” he said.
Boling hopes this year’s effort to eclipse the total $18,000 raised by the sale in 2013. Ten percent of the funds are designated for the St. Aidan’s Day School and or PTA programs at nearby schools including Stratford Landing, Fort Hunt, Waynewood and Belle View Elementary Schools.
According to the Rev. Elizabeth Rees, the other 90 percent of the tree sale revenue supports the many community outreach programs of the church. These include cooking dinner at the Ventures in Community Hypothermia Program at Rising Hope on Sunday nights in February and March, providing weekend food bags once a month for 16 students in need through the Fort Hunt Elementary School Care and Share program, seasonal programs offering gifts and food for families in need, and annual giving to support Good Shepherd Housing, Rising Hope and UCM.
St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church is located at 8531 Riverside Road, Alexandria.