Join Scott - help us raise $1,000 through StepALIVE!
About five years ago, I first volunteered to join ALIVE!'s furniture program. I can't now recall what inspired me, but I'm sure the simplicity attracted me. I like simple instructions and "show up, meet the team and move the furniture" sounded like something I could handle on a Saturday morning. What I wasn't prepared for was my emotional response.
Picking up couches, tables and chairs from various homes in Alexandria worked well. Some were very appreciative to have us take away their old furniture, others just wanted us to not interrupt their day. What really hit me was the second half, when we brought the furniture into the homes of people who needed it. The expressions of gratitude from the parents and children who received this furniture melted my heart. I often attempted to explain in my broken Spanish that this wasn't our furniture, other people had donated it. These differences don't mean much to a small child who has a bed of their own, perhaps for the first time in their life. I was convinced this was something I had to be a part of.
That experience committed me to ALIVE! I've been moving furniture with them for years now. I'm proud to say I have "graduated" to the additional responsibility of driving their truck on occasion. When the COVID-19 lockdown prevented them from continuing their furniture program, I know it was an incredibly difficult decision to make. The unmet needs of Alexandria's least fortunate is something ALIVE! understands better than anyone. They have been working to provide food, shelter, and emergency financial assistance to Alexandrians suffering from poverty and hunger for over 50 years. Fortunately, they can proceed with their annual StepALIVE! walkathon and I'm happy to donate and support it. It is one of their largest fund raisers of the year and it's certainly a year like no other.
Someday ALIVE! will be able to restart their furniture program, but until then the demands for their family assistance program, Child Development Center and food program have only grown and continue to need our support. Please consider joining our GSLC team for StepALIVE! and donating to the cause.
Denise Gray
Join Denise - help us raise $1,000 through StepALIVE!
This year, the annual walk-a-thon fundraiser for ALIVE will be conducted virtually - which means no bagpipes or marching down King Street with hundreds of others in bright t-shirts carrying balloons, and no tasty picnic and music and raffles afterwards (next year for sure!) But it also means that, despite being in the midst of a pandemic, we can participate and help others!
You can register and take a walk in your neighborhood. Or - you can register and imagine taking a walk in your neighborhood! Or you can just donate and not receive the 2020 t-shirt. It’s up to you! What’s important is that we support this absolutely amazing, grassroots, community-founded charity that has been one of the most hands-on, caring and responsive organizations for thousands of Alexandria families over the decades.
I am so proud to support ALIVE. As Chair of Community Outreach for our church, I know the resources available in Alexandria for families in need, whether that need be one-time or on-going. People are referred to ALIVE for food assistance, affordable childcare, furniture for their homes, utility and rent assistance. ALIVE helps hundreds of struggling neighbors to maintain their dignity and stay afloat when crisis strikes. And we know that crisis has STRUCK. People are hurting, now more than ever. You and me … we can help ease that pain.
Go to our team page to get involved!
