Giving Thanks for Thanksgiving Meals
We are so appreciative to the more than 275 volunteers who assisted in our 2018 Operation Turkey drive! From the drivers to the baggers to the food loaders, we had the best crew of volunteers. We are so thankful for your hard work, playful attitude, flexibility and willingness to do whatever we needed. Because of you, more than 1,000 families received holiday food bags and a sense of hope during this season. We look forward to hopefully working with all of you again in the future.
Special thank you to:
- Boy Scouts of America for supporting our Operation Turkey drive with its annual Scouting for Food drive, which brought in more than 13,000 pounds for Greater Prince William area families
- Micron and Sev1Tech for setting up Operation Turkey, especially on such a cold, rainy day. It did not sway these volunteers one bit! They loaded and unloaded three truckloads of supplies in the rain without a hint of complaint so that we could make sure we were prepared to receive all of the food for Operation Turkey. Micron volunteers also crated food in the Hunger Resource Center so that we could have space for surplus Operation Turkey food.
- Temple Rodef Shalom for generously providing and serving a Thanksgiving meal for Multicultural Center families and sending them home with plenty of leftovers.
Getting Ready for the Holiday Season
Thank you to Capital One for its support this month. More than 80 volunteers made no-sew fleece blankets, and color and number wheel learning activity kits, and assembled winter weather kits for kids. Another Capital One volunteer group sorted and organized incoming donations at our thrift store, and fixed up displays in preparation for holiday season. Volunteers also assembled 175 Thanksgiving food boxes for our community housing, Youth Initiatives and Training Futures programs.
Thank you to Grant Thornton for helping to organize and sort donations at the thrift store, with a special focus on getting holiday merchandise prominently displayed for the season.
Thank you to Merritt Group for sharing a story about Thanksgiving around a make-believe fire with our Head Start students. The creative group helped children “build” a fire with tissue paper “flames” and construction paper “logs.” The children even got cotton ball “marshmallows” on a popsicle stick to get their imaginations going! After storytime, volunteers helped the children create paper-bag turkey puppets.
Engaging Young Minds
Thank you to Egan, Berger & Weiner, LLC for reading Homer the Library Cat and engaging our Head Start students in making noise makers out of paper cups and string. Needless to say, the children had a great time making noise with their noise makers!
Thank you to the 5th graders at Antietam Elementary for hosting Julie Martinez, our shelter community and volunteer engagement specialist, to learn about how to help their neighbors experiencing homelessness as part of their curriculum on issues affecting their community. They asked very thoughtful questions and are planning a community yard sale to support the SERVE Family Shelter!
Supporting Guests at Our Shelter
Thank you to Apple Federal Credit Union for bringing fun board games to play with the children and families in the SERVE Family Shelter. The board games even included a Manassas version of Monopoly!
Thank you to the Microsoft Tysons Corner Store, Custom Ink and Old Dominion National Bank for sharing meals with our shelter guests.
Thank you to Caring Angels‘ human and canine volunteers for spreading so much joy at the SERVE Family Shelter. Shelter guests enjoyed petting and playing with Kyro, Landon, Sophie and Brookes.