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Annual Holiday Giving Projects 2022

Tuesday, November 8th, 2022

Happy Holidays2

It’s time for our Annual Holiday Giving Projects for two very worthy local charities:  Fairfax County Firefighters & Friends to the Rescue Toy and Coat Drive, and Britepaths.  The Firefighters hold coat and toy distributions where many needy local children may select a holiday gift and a new warm winter coat.  Britepaths uses our checks and grocery store gift cards to give to local needy families for food purchases in mid- January to early February, when the need is great and holiday giving has ended.

You do not need to be a member of the DWCNV to donate – all you need is a generous heart!

We will be hosting our Annual Holiday Giving Projects Meeting via Zoom on Sunday, November 20th from 5-7 P.M. 

How You May Donate and Make a Difference 

Willie Bailey

Fairfax Firefighters and Friends to the Rescue Toy and Coat Drive 

To donate to the Firefighter’s Toy and Coat Drive, you may drop off toys, checks and gift cards at two locations in Clifton and one in Herndon by Dec. 6th – contact us for exact drop off locations.  Toys will be given to pre-school and elementary aged school children, and gift cards to stores like Best Buy, WalMart, Target, Amazon, etc., will be given to older children to pick out their own gifts. You may also mail checks – made payable to Fairfax County Firefighters and Friends to the Rescue- to DWCNV, P.O. Box 143, Clifton, VA 20124.  

If you prefer, monetary donations may be made directly online to Firefighters & Friends to the Rescue on their website. Let them know you are donating through the DWCNV.

Deadline for donating to the Fairfax Co. Firefighters & Friends to the Rescue Toy and Coat Drive is December 6th.

 

Britepaths Donations

Please mail your grocery store gift cards of any amount, or checks made payable to Britepaths to DWCNV, P.O. Box 143, Clifton, VA 20124.   Donations of grocery store gift cards or checks for Britepaths will be accepted until Dec. 31st.Britepaths Logo 

 

For questions about our Holiday Giving Projects, please contact  cliftonwomendems@aol.com

We thank you in advance for giving!  You make the world a better place!

Spread the news with our Annual Holiday Giving 2022 flyer.

Happy Holidays!

Roadside Clean up on Sat., Sept. 27th, 10 – noon!

Wednesday, September 7th, 2022
Clean Up in the Name of the DWCNV!

Saturday, Sept 17th from 10AM – Noon

View as Webpage

As many of you know, the Democratic Women of Clifton and Northern Virginia (DWCNV) has adopted Clifton Road as a project through the Virginia Department of Transportation’s “Adopt-a-Highway” program. We clean up the road in the fall and in the spring, and the Department of Transportation picks up the trash bags we fill and gives us the honorary sign you see at the intersection of Clifton Road and Main Street.

 

This ongoing relationship has served us well since we have gotten many good comments from people who have seen our sign, and we help to keep our community beautiful at the same time. We need your help to keep this tradition going, and we will clean up on Saturday, September 17th (10am – noon). We will meet on the road going up to Clifton Elementary School.

 

We look forward to meeting many new members, and we provide the bags and the bright, shiny vests; all you need is a good pair of gloves. We are happy to sign approvals for middle school/high school “service hours”, and feel free to bring a friend or two with you!

Celebrating our 17th Anniversary on Sun., Feb. 20th

Tuesday, February 15th, 2022
UPDATE 2/2/22:  We had a wonderful meeting celebrating our 17th Anniversary.  Our guest speakers were inspirational and we remind you to donate to the parenting program (PIO) in honor of our 17th in support of residents of Guest House. Details on how to do that are below.

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All members are invited to attend as we toast our organization and all the good work we have accomplished in those years. Continuing our tradition of building social relationships among our members, it will be nice to gather together at 5:00 – 6:30 P.M., even if it is only virtually for now. Information on how to sign up to receive Zoom log-in information  has been sent to members.  Contact us if you haven’t received that at cliftonwomendems@aol.com

Along with celebrating our longevity, we as a women’s group also acknowledge the importance of women helping women. Wanting to continue and expand that mission, we’ve invited a wonderful organization, Friends of Guest House (FGH), to celebrate with us. www.friendsofguesthouse.org

Executive Director of FGH and longtime DWCNV member, Kari Galloway, will speak to us on the 20th and describe their programs to help formerly incarcerated women in Virginia transition back into the community. Their good work includes providing housing, counseling, a workforce and life development program, mentoring, aftercare and outreach programs, and other essential services. Also, several former and current residents of Guest House will share their personal stories and tell how Guest House has made a difference in their lives. We have had FGH residents speak to us twice before–once at a meeting and again at another anniversary celebration long ago. We feel such strong support for what they do that we have asked them to come back. This is truly a meeting that you will not want to miss!

In honor of the 17th Anniversary of the DWCNV, we ask you, if you are able, to donate $17, any increment of $17, or any other amount to help FGH with their work. The funds we raise will support the Parenting Inside Out program (PIO) of FGH.

Kari Galloway describes this program as an experiential, evidence-based, parenting skills training class designed specifically for the unique population it serves at FGH. Family reunification has been found to be one of the most influential factors in preventing female recidivism. In two 12-hour classes, PIO addresses communication, problem-solving, emotional regulation, non-violent discipline, positive reinforcement, and how to use structure, routine, rules, rewards, and consequences for child guidance.   With our funding assistance, the FGH hopes to train two additional co-facilitators to make the classes ongoing rather than offering PIO instruction only two to three times per year.

Please be generous in your support of this worthwhile program. You can donate electronically, starting now, by going to: Donate to Friends of Guest House. In the note line, please add DWCNV. You may also mail a check made out to Friends of Guest House to 1 East Luray Ave., Alexandria, VA 22301 and write Attn: Kari Galloway, Exec. Director, on the envelope and DWCNV on the memo line of your check.

We hope you will join us as we lift a glass and toast one another and 17 great years together!

DWCNV Steering Committee

Time to be Thankful and Give Back!

Tuesday, November 16th, 2021
 

Annual Holiday Giving Meeting

Tuesday, November 9th, 2021

Members and Subscribers,

Our next meeting will be held virtually on Sunday, Nov. 14th, 5-7 p.m. and we will be hosting our Annual Holiday Giving Program. We will hear from leaders of the two organizations we urge you to support at this time of the year – Fairfax County Firefighters and Friends to the Rescue and Britepaths – on what they do, why, and what the needs are.

The Firefighters host a huge toy and coat drive for needy kids all over No. VA mostly through the schools. Britepaths collects grocery store gift cards of any amount for needy families and gives them out in January and February, after the holidays, when the need is the greatest.

How To Donate

You may donate to each organization by snail mailing a check made out to these organizations, or by mailing grocery store gift cards for Britepaths to DWCNV, P.O. Box 143, Clifton, VA 20124. Store gift cards to stores like Best Buy, Walmart, Target, Amazon, etc. will be given to older children to pick out their own gifts – you can mail those too us too. Toys will be given to pre-school and elementary aged school children and may be dropped off at two Clifton locations, mailed directly to us, or we can arrange for pick up. Write to us for addresses. Money from your checks are used by the Firefighters to purchase warm winter coats for the children. Deadline to donate to the Firefighters is Dec. 6th and for Britepaths, Dec. 31st.

You do not have to be a member to donate to these two worthy organizations. All you need is a generous spirit! Email us and we will send you more information: cliftonwomendems@aol.com. Members and subscribers of the DWCNV, you should have received emails about this with details, but happy to resend so just let us know!

We will also be discussing the election and hearing from some members of the General Assembly and community members on upcoming 2022 legislation and how you may advocate.

To register for this Zoom meeting contact us at cliftonwomendems@aol.com. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the virtual meeting as we have done in the past.

Covid’s effects are still being felt by many families around here, so if you are able, please be generous.

We thank you in advance for giving! You make the world a better place!

We hope to “see” you on November 14th.
The DWCNV Steering Committee 

Sunday, October 3rd, 2021

REGISTER TO VOTE FOR THE NOVEMBER 2nd  STATEWIDE ELECTIONS

At the Virginia Department of Elections’ Citizen Portal: https://vote.elections.virginia.gov/VoterInformation you can:
  1. Register to vote
  2. Update your registration if you have moved or changed your name
  3. Find your local polling place for the November 2 election
 The deadline to register is October 12 but don’t wait until the last minute.
For general information on important voting dates in Fairfax County see:

https://www.elections.virginia.gov/casting-a-ballot/calendars-schedules/upcoming-elections.html

Every early voting location will also have a secured ballot drop-box for completed absentee ballots, and will have curbside voting as an option for those who need that service.

If you have received your absentee ballot but want to vote early in-person instead, you can take your absentee ballot to any early voting location or your polling place on November 2 and surrender it to an election official who will then give you a ballot you can cast at that location. You can use any early voting location. All 16 early voting sites will be open from October 21 to October 30. The list of early voting locations can be found at:https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/elections/early-voting

Important Information for Virginia Voters

Virginia has a very important election this Fall.

New laws make it easier than ever to cast your ballot.

If you are not yet registered to vote in Virginia, or you have moved to a new address since the last election, go to https://fairfaxvotes.org/home/ to register or update your address.You do NOT need to be a Fairfax County resident to use this site. You will be linked to the official state voter portal. The voter registration deadline is October 12.

You have three ways to cast your ballot:
  • Early voting in person (recommended method) starts September 17
  • On Election Day in person (November 2)
  • By mail-in ballot (absentee ballot requests can be sent now)

Voting early in-person is the best way to be sure your ballot will be counted.

New laws make this option the most convenient way to vote. Visit any early voting location (see the addresses and dates for each location below).

You no longer need to provide a reason to vote early. Everybody is eligible. If you requested a mail-in ballot but later decide to vote early in-person, just bring your mail-in ballot with you to the early voting location.

To vote by mail, 

1) you must request an absentee ballot,
2) complete and sign your ballot and have someone sign as a witness,
3) return your ballot by mail (no later than October 27) or use a secured drop box at one of the early voting locations.

To vote on Election Day,

go to your local precinct location. You can find the location of your local precinct by going to https://fairfaxvotes.org/home/.

Early voting locations for Fairfax County (more details at https://fairfaxvotes.org/early/ )
Starting on September 17th you may vote early at these 3 locations in Fairfax County:
  • Fairfax County Govt Center, 12000 Government Center Pkwy, (Conference rooms 2/3)
  • Mt. Vernon Governmental Center 2511 Parkers Ln, Alexandria 22306
  • North County Governmental Center 1801 Cameron Glen Dr, Reston 20190
From October 21 to October 30, these 13 early voting locations will be available.
  • Burke Centre Library 5935 Freds Oak Rd, Burke
  • Centreville Regional Library 14200 St. Germain Dr, Centreville
  • Franconia Governmental Center 6121 Franconia Rd, Alexandria
  • Gerry Hyland Government Center 8350 Richmond Hwy, Alexandria
  • Great Falls Library 9830 Georgetown Pike, Great Falls
  • Herndon Fortnightly Library 768 Center St, Herndon
  • Mason Governmental Center 6507 Columbia Pike, Annandale
  • McLean Governmental Center 1437 Balls Hill Rd, McLean
  • Providence Community Center 3001 Vaden Dr, Fairfax
  • Sully Governmental Center 4900 Stonecroft Blvd, Chantilly
  • Thomas Jefferson Library 7415 Arlington Blvd, Falls Church
  • Tysons-Pimmit Regional Library 7584 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church
  • West Springfield Governmental Center 6140 Rolling Rd, Springfield
Hours of operation:
  • Weekdays: Fairfax County Govt Center 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. All other locations 12:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
  • Saturday 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
  • Sunday (October 24th only) All locations 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Websites for election offices in Northern Virginia (shows addresses and hours for early voting locations)
For updates to voting-related information, visit https://fairfaxvotes.org/home/

Why this election is important.

  • Your state officials and legislature have the power to adopt important laws and regulations that affect your health, your financial situation, your safety and your rights as a citizen.
  • Over the past two years, the Democrats have led our state government and have been able to enact many important reforms, such as:
  • More convenient ways to vote
  • Better management of the Covid-19 pandemic
  • Improved economic policies
  • Improved access to health care at lower cost
  • Support for quality public education
  • Support for affordable housing
  • Addressing the challenges from climate change.

Reminder – It’s the Time for Giving to DWCNV Annual Holiday Giving Projects

Wednesday, November 25th, 2020

It’s not too late to donate to two wonderful organizations that the DWCNV has supported for many years and it’s always a good time to think of those less fortunate, especially during the holiday season.  Many families and children have been hurt in 2020 because of COVID-19 and their holidays could be brighter if you help out by donating.

DWCNV-DonationDrive2019

Once again the DWCNV will support Fairfax County Firefighters and Friends to the Rescue and Britepaths through our Holiday Giving Program.  You don’t have to be a DWCNV member to donate, just a generous person!

For years, the Firefighters and Friends have organized a toy and gift card drive for children throughout Northern Virginia. The organization also uses our contributions to purchase winter coats for hundreds of children in our area–more than 3,000 coats every winter!

Suggested donations to Fairfax County Firefighters and Friends to the Rescue:
  • gift cards to Target, Best Buy, Amazon, or Walmart. These stores have a huge selection of gift cards that you can print right from your computer! Many websites offer the ability to buy a gift card online and have it shipped to you for free! The gift cards go to older children who are often forgotten during holiday gift giving.
  • checks of any amount made payable to Fairfax Co. Firefighters and Friends to the Rescue.
How to donate: Mail checks or gift cards to DWCNV, PO Box 143, Clifton, VA 20124. Unwrapped, new toys can be mailed or delivered to Debbie Charms as well (address sent upon request). Donations will be accepted until December 1st. 
 
Suggested donations to Britepaths:
  • grocery store gift cards to Giant, Wegmans, Safeway, Target, Walmart, etc.
  • checks in any amount made payable to Britepaths.
How to donate: Mail checks or gift cards to DWCNV at DWCNV, P.O. Box 143, Clifton, VA 20124.Donations to Britepaths will be accepted until December 31st.
For questions or to arrange pick up, email us at cliftonwomendems@aol.com or message us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/DWCNV

Holiday Giving Project – 2020

Wednesday, September 30th, 2020

 

It is always a good time to think of those less fortunate, but especially during the coming holiday season. The pandemic has hurt our economy, and many families are now finding it difficult to survive. Once again the DWCNV will support Fairfax County Firefighters and Friends to the Rescue and Britepaths through our Holiday Giving Program.
For years, the Firefighters and Friends have organized a toy and gift card drive for children throughout Northern Virginia. The organization also uses our contributions to purchase winter coats for hundreds of children in our area–more than 3,000 coats every winter!
Suggested donations to Fairfax County Firefighters and Friends to the Rescue:
  • gift cards to Target, Best Buy, Amazon, or Walmart. These stores have a huge selection of gift cards that you can print right from your computer! Many websites offer the ability to buy a gift card online and have it shipped to you for free! The gift cards go to older children who are often forgotten during holiday gift giving.
  • checks of any amount made payable to Fairfax Co. Firefighters and Friends to the Rescue.
How to donate: Mail checks or gift cards to DWCNV, PO Box 143, Clifton, VA 20124. Unwrapped, new toys can be mailed or delivered to Debbie Charms as well (address sent upon request). Donations will be accepted until December 5th.
Suggested donations to Britepaths:
  • grocery store gift cards to Giant, Wegmans, Safeway, Target, Walmart, etc.
  • checks in any amount made payable to Britepaths.
How to donate: Mail checks or gift cards to DWCNV at DWCNV, P.O. Box 143, Clifton, VA 20124.  Donations to Britepaths will be accepted until December 31st.

Adopt-A-Highway Fall Clean Up Community Service Project

Wednesday, September 30th, 2020
We are giving back to the Clifton Community and we hope you’ll join us. You do not have to be a member to help out! All are welcome.
The Democratic Women of Clifton and Northern Virginia will host our annual
Fall Cleanup Event
Sunday, October 4th and Monday, 5th from 1 p.m. – 3 p.m..
 
We’ll be picking up trash along part of Clifton Road from the triangle in downtown, to Braddock Road.
Come on down and bring your friends! You can sign up at this link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c054eadaf28aaf49-clifton3
Volunteers will meet in the driveway of the old Clifton Elementary School, 7010 Clifton Road, Clifton, VA 20124. You can help out for an hour or two, on either or both days, whatever works for our volunteers.
Participants will be given a safety vest and a quick safety briefing. You and your team will be assigned an area along the road. For safety reasons, we do not recommend bringing children under 12 years old. For teens needing service hours, this is a great project.
If you have work gloves, please bring them. We recommend that volunteers wear long pants, long-sleeved shirts and sturdy shoes.
Thank you ahead of time for your service to our community! See you there on Oct. 4th and/or Oct. 5th.
Kind regards,
Elizabeth Hughes Blacklin
DWCNV Adopt-a-Highway Coordinator
Join Elizabeth Blacklin and her son Ian for good cleanup fun and exercise. Make some new friends!
Elizabeth and son Ian Blacklin

Adopt-A-Highway Spring Clean Up Planned for April 28

Saturday, March 16th, 2019

We are giving back to the Clifton Community and we hope you’ll join us. You do not have to be a member of the DWCNV to participate – all are welcome!

 The Democratic Women of Clifton and Northern Virginia will host the annual Spring Cleanup Event on April 28 from 1pm to 4 pm. We’ll be picking up trash along part of Clifton Road from the triangle to Braddock Road.

Come on down and bring your friends!  Sign up here:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080845a5af2aa6fd0-ifits

Volunteers will meet in the driveway of Clifton Elementary, 7010 Clifton Road, Clifton, VA 20124.   You can help out for an hour or the whole afternoon, whatever works for our volunteers. Participants will be given a safety vest and a quick safety briefing. You and your team will be assigned an area along the road. For safety reasons, we do not recommend bringing children under 12 years old.

If you have work gloves, please bring them. We recommend that volunteers wear long pants, long-sleeved shirts and sturdy shoes.

Thank you ahead of time for your service to the Clifton Community! See you there on April 28.

For questions, contact cliftonwomendems@aol.com