October 2014 News

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Contact Information

Mailing Address
7200 Columbia Pike
Annandale, VA 22003

Information
703-256-0100

Emergency
Assistance
(Fairfax County)
703-222-0880

Donations
(except furniture)
703-256-0100

Furniture Donations
703-256-9513

Email
accacares@verizon.net

ACCA Website www.accacares.org

ACCA's Mission

The Annandale Christian Community for Action (ACCA), is a non-profit coalition of 26 Annandale-area churches which has been helping the needy in our community for more than 44 years. To learn more about ACCA, visit our website at www.accacares.org.

Next Meeting
The next meeting will be Nov. 4 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints 3900 Howard St, Annandale, VA 22003 Refreshments and fellowship 7:30 p.m. Meeting 7:45 p.m. Open to all visitors.

ACCA Members

Annandale United Methodist

Braddock Baptist

Calvary Church of the Nazarene

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Annandale Ward
and
Little River Ward

Cornerstone Evangelical Free

Culmore United Methodist

First Presbyterian

Friendship United Methodist

Holy Spirit Catholic

Hope Lutheran

John Calvin Presbyterian

Lincolnia United Methodist

Mt. Pleasant Baptist

Peace Lutheran

Providence Presbyterian

Queen of the Apostles Catholic

Ravenworth Baptist

Sleepy Hollow United Methodist

St. Alban's Episcopal

St. Anthony Catholic

St. Barnabas Episcopal

St. Michael's Catholic

St. Paul's Episcopal

United Baptist

Warner Baptist

Creating Community Is Luncheon Theme

Rev. Jeffrey S. Shankles, Rector, St. Alban's Episcopal Church, Supervisor Penny Gross, ACCA President Gail V. Coleman, and Rev. Dr. J. Wayne Yawn, Co-Pastor, United Baptist Church at this year's Pastors and Partners luncheon. Click the image to view additional photos.

Fairfax County Supervisor Penny Gross presented a dynamic portrait of the ever-changing face of Annandale over the last several decades in an address at the annual Pastors and Partners luncheon held October 16 at the Annandale United Methodist Church. 70 ACCA representatives, pastors, and local business, government and community leaders attended the event, which focused on "A Celebration of Neighborhood and Creating Community." Supervisor Gross said, "Fairfax County could not do all it does without the faith communities it partners with."

Elisa Lueck and Keisha Dotson, both with Fairfax County Neighborhood and Community Services (NCS), described some of the many resources, programs and partnerships in place to meet the needs of the young, the elderly, and the indigent in our community. In FY2014, NCS received an average of 420 calls per day from people seeking help. While the average number of calls per day has declined slightly in the first quarter of FY2015, there has been a spike in requests for food assistance, a trend also evidenced by the number of families being served monthly by the ACCA Food Pantry.

ACCA thanks all who attended. A special thank you goes out to Giant Foods Annandale for supplying a tasty lunch and Annandale United Methodist Church for hosting the event.

2014 CROP Hunger Walk

A group of walkers from John Calvin Presbyterian is all smiles at the start of this year's CROP Hunger Walk. Click the image above to see more photos.

The weather was beautiful for the annual CROP Hunger Walk around Lake Accotink on Saturday, October 18. The walk raises money for Church World Service to support projects to fight hunger and poverty around the world and locally here in Annandale. About 55 walkers and 10 volunteers participated.

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon Bulova and Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross joined the group for the opening ceremony. On display were 22 posters made by children from three ACCA churches. The artists will receive certificates. Participating churches and walkers will be collecting donations until mid-November. You can also donate to the walk online at www.crophungerwalk.org/annandaleva.

Support the CDC (8684) at Harris Teeter

If you shop at Harris Teeter you can support the ACCA Child Development Center (CDC) through the Together In Education Program. The next time you shop, simply ask the cashier to link your VIC card to the CDC account number (8684). You can also link your card to the CDC account online. If you linked your card last year, you must re-link it this year, either in-person or online.

Harris Teeter will donate 5% of every private label product you purchase to the CDC. This is a great way to support our program and improve the educational future of the children we serve. Quality early childhood education not only has a positive impact on the child and their child's family, but it also has a positive impact on our community as a whole.

Challenge Grant Campaign Kicks Off

The annual ACCA Challenge Grant campaign was launched on October 1st. ACCA's goal during the campaign is to raise over $172,000. The Washington Forrest Foundation has provided $15,000 to kick-start the campaign and several anonymous donors have added $28,000, which gives us a starting base of $43,000. So we are off to a great start! Our challenge this year is to raise at least $3 in additional private donations, large and small, for every $1 in our starting base of $43,000.

Individual donors are the single largest source of private funding for ACCA, exceeding church contributions and support from businesses and other organizations. ACCA relies on the generosity of our individual donors to meet the rising number of requests for food assistance, as well emergency needs for rent, utilities and medical costs.

Challenge Grant donations can be made by check or credit card. Checks should be made payable to ACCA, Inc., with "Challenge Grant" written on the Memo or For line of the check. Mail the check to 7200 Columbia Pike, Annandale, VA, 22003. To donate by credit card, visit the ACCA page on the Catalogue for Philanthropy website or the ACCA PayPal page. Donations can be made one-time or recurring, and can also be made in honor or in memory of a loved one.

The Challenge Grant campaign will continue through January 31, 2015.

Family Emergency Assistance

ACCA provided emergency assistance to 39 households in September, dispensing more than $20,800 in payments for rent, utilities, and other assistance. One of our clients was a homeless man living in his car. He needed gas money to get to a job interview. In another case, a single mother with four children had her electricity cut off. We assisted by paying the amount needed to restore service. Another family was behind in the rent after the father suffered a heart attack. He is unable to return to his job and is seeking less physically demanding work. ACCA paid their outstanding rent. On behalf of these and others, thank you for supporting ACCA.

Furniture Ministry

Furniture teams completed deliveries to 39 households and completed 31 pickups in September. Among those helped were a refugee from Afghanistan and 11 formerly homeless individuals, including a family of five. Most of the families helped had children under age 18. One furniture volunteer recently said, "When you walk into some of these places, it is very humbling. These people have nothing. They are literally sleeping on concrete."

If you have a gently used chest of drawers, dresser, or dining table and chairs, please give ACCA a call at 703-256-9513 to arrange a pickup. Imagine the difference you can make in a family's life!

Food Pantry

Despite a very successful food drive in September (see Day to Serve pictures here), supplies in the food pantry are low because of increased need for food assistance across the county. Volunteers made 101 deliveries in September.

The annual Boy Scout Food drive takes place on the second Saturday in November (Nov. 8). We encourage postal patrons to be generous and invite young people needing community service hours to help us re-stock the pantry shelves with food donations collected that day.

The pantry also needs food captains to take referrals and arrange for deliveries. The time commitment is one week every three months; a computer and access to the Internet are needed.

Please email Jean Rackowski henry.jean@verizon.net if you are interested in either opportunity.

Transportation and Meals on Wheels

ACCA volunteers provided 7 rides for 7 clients in September. Meals on Wheels served 23 clients, delivering a total of 752 meals.

ACCA Testifies on Local Needs

ACCA President Gail V. Coleman testified before the Fairfax County Consolidated Community Advisory Committee on October 14. She noted that although ACCA has been a recipient of grants from the Consolidated Community Funding Pool since FY2002, higher grant awards have not kept pace with the increased demand for assistance. Most of the increase has been for assistance to prevent homelessness. As a result, ACCA often has had to cap the amount of support provided. County trends data reveal that emergency food requests in FY2014 were more than two and one-half times the level they were at before the recession began.

In her testimony, Ms. Coleman strongly supported increased community needs assessment. She also described ACCA's collaboration with other nonprofit agencies and requested that the County develop models and provide support for evaluation of the long-term impact of human services on those we serve. Read the full statement here.