donation

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

H-B Woodlawn Student Wins Arlington Idol — We have a new Arlington Idol. H-B Woodlawn junior Mary Shields (above) placed first at the annual singing competition Thursday night. Watch her winning performance here. Shields will now perform at a July 8 summer concert at Washington-Lee High School. [Arlington Public Schools]

Discussion of Pike/Glebe Development Tonight — Arlington’s site plan review commission will discuss early plans for a mixed used development at the Rosenthal auto dealership site at Columbia Pike and South Glebe Road tonight. The development plan calls for ground floor retail space, 259 residential units and 44 town homes. The meeting is open to the public. [Pike Wire]

Donations for Employee Injured in Brawl — The Hyatt Regency Crystal City hotel is accepting donations for an employee who was seriously injured during a brawl at the 2011 DMV Music Awards. Antonio Illanes was hit with a bottle and lost sight in his left eye. He has had to endure several operations since the March 6 incident. [TBD]

Dogs on Display at AWLA — The Animal Welfare League of Arlington has set up a small animal viewing area in its lobby to encourage the adoption of animals that have had a hard time finding a home. [Sun Gazette]

Screen capture via YouTube

Thieves Strike Hume School, Endangering Historical Society’s Finances

By ARLnow.com

The Hume School, home of the Arlington Historical Society Museum (1805 South Arlington Ridge Road), was damaged by thieves last month, the organization’s president has confirmed.

“Sometime in early December, thieves literally ripped off three 30 foot long copper downspouts from the exterior walls of the Hume School,” said Arlington Historical Society President Tom Dickinson. “This is a severe blow to our carefully shepherded finances, which were already in a precarious (deficit budget) situation. Although covered by insurance, we will incur a $1,000 deductible hit to pay for replacement downspouts.”

Dickinson said he’s meeting with a contractor today to get an estimate for the total replacement cost. He said that with the public’s help, he’s still hoping to catch the thieves.

“It would be interesting to know if any of your readers have contacts with scrap metal dealers in the area who might remember having seen these very long, dark brown tubes come through recently,” he said. “The price of copper has gone way up in recent months, thus making such brazen thefts more frequent.”

A photo of the Hume School is one of the finalists in this year’s county vehicle decal contest.

Anyone interested in donating to the historical society can do so online here or by sending a check to the Arlington Historical Society at P.O. Box 100402, Arlington, Virginia 22210-3402.

Big Planetarium Donation Encourages Others to Give

By ARLnow.com

A $100,000 donation from local builder and philanthropist Preston Caruthers has given new life to the campaign to save Arlington’s planetarium.

The donation, first announced late last week, was given to the Friends of the David M. Brown Planetarium organization in the form of a challenge grant. From now until the $100,000 is exhausted, each donation to the planetarium will be matched by Mr. Caruthers’ funds.

That means that reaching certain donation levels will be easier for individual donors. For instance, a donor would now only need to donate $500 to reach the $1,000 level required to dedicate a seat in the planetarium.

“It’s a way of encouraging people to make a donation, and to do it sooner rather than later,” said Friends of the Planetarium Board President Alice Monet. Prospective donors want to get their donations in before the challenge funds are depleted, she said.

The $100,000 donation came at a critical time, as the planetarium campaign was eying a looming fundraising deadline set by Arlington Public Schools, which owns and operates the aging facility on the grounds of Washington-Lee High School.

With Mr. Caruthers’ gift figured in, the Friends have now raised close to $250,000. The donation pushed the organization just north of the school-imposed $241,680 target for the end of December. The ultimate fundraising target for the group is $402,800 on June 30 of this year, with a $322,240 target set for March 31.

Monet says the organization has “seen a big effect already” from the Caruthers challenge.

Between 30 and 40 donations came in over the weekend, Monet said, blowing away the usual half dozen donations during a typical weekend.

“It’s now clear to people that we’re a lot more likely to succeed,” she said. “It’s an achievable fundraising effort, and people want to be a part of that.”

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Support a Great Local Charity, (Possibly) Win Cool Stuff

By ARLnow.com

ARLnow.com has teamed up with our friends at What’s the Deal to support Doorways for Women and Families, which is trying to reach an important $100,000 fundraising goal by the end of the month.

With family homelessness at historic levels and incidents of domestic violence on the rise, Doorways has seen demand for its services rise in Northern Virginia.

For the next 36 hours, you’ll have the chance to make a small donation to Doorways while being entered into a raffle featuring more than 15 prizes from restaurants and other businesses around D.C.

Your raffle ticket purchase of $5 or $10 will help pay for Doorways’ domestic violence safehouse and court advocacy services, as well as its homelessness prevention efforts and emergency family shelter.

Click here to buy raffle tickets to support Doorways.

You can also check out the charities being supported by three other local sites — We Love DC, EatMore DrinkMore and K Street Kate — here. The charity that raises the most money (100 percent of the purchase price will go directly to the charities) will have their donations matched by What’s the Deal.

Tomorrow: Teen’s Charity to Collect Bikes for Africa

By ARLnow.com

If you have an old bike that you don’t use any more, there’s a more satisfying way to get rid of it than selling it for $5 at a garage sale.

Wheels to Africa, a group founded by Arlington teen Winston Duncan five years ago, will be collecting bikes Saturday to send to people in need in Africa.

Duncan, now 16, held his first collection drive in 2005 when he was just 11.  It was a success far beyond his expectations, and soon local and national media outlets were profiling him and simple yet powerful idea of improving the mobility of needy Africans by sending them old bikes.

Now in its sixth year, Wheels to Africa will be collecting bikes at nine different drop-off locations in Northern Virginia tomorrow from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. There will be three Arlington locations: Swanson Middle School, Washington-Lee High School and Yorktown High School. See a list of all drop-off locations here.

The group is also seeking a $10 donation with each bike, to cover the cost of shipping.

Screenshot via WUSA9

Two Arlington Groups Benefit from Dominion Donations

By ARLnow.com

Two Arlington non-profits are getting a cool $5,000 apiece thanks to a round of charitable donations by Dominion.

The energy company announced $2 million in donations yesterday to help the homeless and aid families in need.

Arlington affordable housing outfit AHC, Inc. and at-risk women’s shelter Doorways for Women and Families both accepted the donations at a press conference in Reston.

“Dominion wants to help our friends and neighbors who are encountering hardships during the current recession,” CEO Thomas F. Farrell II said in a statement. “Housing-related organizations and programs are facing increased demand for their services, while their own budgets are stretched thin… We are working to help ensure that safe, warm shelter is available to those in need.”

Photo courtesy Jeremy Rusnock Photography

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Most Elaborate Christmas Display in Arlington? — Blue Virginia has a video of what may be the most elaborate Christmas display in Arlington. It’s located on North Quebec Street, between Lee Highway and 17th Street, in Cherrydale. Let us know if you’ve seen anything better.

Pentagon Row Sold — The collection of stores and apartments known as Pentagon Row has been sold for a relatively low $14.9 million. Vornado Realty Trust sold the complex to Federal Realty Investment Trust, which also owns the Shirlington Village shopping center. More from the Washington Business Journal.

Boy Scouts Collect Nearly 55,000 Pounds of Food — The Arlington Boy Scouts collected a whopping 54,791 pounds of non-perishable food donations through its annual Scouting for Food Drive. More from the Sun Gazette.

Travolta Drops by Falls Church — Pulp Fiction star John Travola skipped the dinner at the Kennedy Center Honors last night, opting instead to dine at the Peking Gourmet Inn in Falls Church. Local celebrity photographer Mark Wilkins was there to capture the scene.

Flickr pool photo by Team Rank

Planetarium Group Receives Major Gift

By ARLnow.com

The Friends of the David M. Brown Planetarium announced today that they have received a grant valued at more than twice what the group has raised up to this point.

An approximately $50,000 grant from the Children’s Fund of Metropolitan Washington will be made by the end of the month, Friends of the Planetarium president Alice Monet said today.

Up to this point, the Friends had raised about $22,500. The group is trying to raise $400,000 by next summer to upgrade the 40-year-old planetarium facility.

Monet says she hopes the Children’s Fund gift will be the first of several major institutional donations to the Friends organization.

Photos from the World Trade Center Steel Ceremony

By ARLnow.com

Hundreds gathered outside Arlington County Fire Station 5 in Pentagon City this morning to commemorate the donation of a steel beam from the World Trade Center.

“This morning we gather to recognize the bond between Arlington, New York and Shanskville [Pa.],” said Arlington County Fire Chief James Schwartz.

Dozens of New York City and Arlington County firefighters were on hand for the ceremony. Music was provided by a large bagpipe corps and a youth choir from Georgia.

The steel beam — one end twisted and torn with remnants of concrete still attached — was from the North Tower of the World Trade Center, according to Paddy Concannon, president of the FDNY Fire Family Transport Foundation, which arranged the donation.

Following the beam’s unveiling, firefighters took turns reading the names of those who died in the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon.

The beam was transported from Brooklyn to Pentagon City on Saturday. It was accompanied by hundreds of motorcyclists on its journey to Arlington.

The steel will remain on display outside the fire station until a more permanent memorial is constructed.

More photos after the jump.

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Road Closures, Parking Restrictions for WTC Steel Ceremony

By ARLnow.com

On Sunday morning, Arlington County will hold a ceremony to formally accept a gift of World Trade Center steel from New York City. The ceremony will take place at 11:00 a.m. Arlington’s Fire Station No. 5 (1750 S. Hayes Street) in Pentagon City — which housed the first firefighters to respond to the Pentagon on 9/11.

The event should attract a large crowd. At least 500 motorcyclists are expected to escort the steel from New York City to the fire station and a middle school choir will be driving up from Georgia to participate in the ceremony.

To handle the crowds, South Hayes Street will be closed from South Fern Street to 15th Street for much of the day, and parking restrictions will be put in place in the area.

The ceremony will be held rain or shine.

Volunteer Opp: Back to School Donations

By ARLnow.com

Believe it or not, it’s almost back-to-school time. With August just around the corner, the Arlington-Alexandria Coalition for the Homeless is seeking volunteers to help the children of homeless families get some new gear.

Specifically, AACH wants individuals or groups to commit to buying a complete outfit — pants, shirt, underwear, socks, shoes — for an individual student. The organization is also accepting donations of gift cards.

The deadline for donations is August 23. To donate, contact Katie Tressel ([email protected]).

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