Giving Back for the Holidays

All of us at Britepaths are so grateful to everyone who supported our 2022 Holiday Program! We were able to help 265 local families, who may have otherwise gone without, enjoy festive Thanksgiving and December holiday meals and gifts for their children.

See below for photos and stories from the season.

A special thank you to our Holiday Program sponsors! American Legion Post 177 in Fairfax,
Peterson Family Foundation, Cox Farms, KPMG MAC GMS Team, Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church, Church of the Good Shepherd in Burke, Walmart Store 5880 in Fairfax, Walmart Store 2015 in Fair Lakes and our Wine & Wonderment Supporters

Thank you to organizations that ran fund and gift card drives! Alpha Delta Kappa – Tau Chapter, Antioch Baptist Church Sunday School, Central Fairfax Chamber of Commerce, Cox Farms, CrossFit Reston, Fairfax City Democratic Committee, Fairfax County Office of the County Attorney, KPMG MAC GMS Team, Brooke Thomas/Meridian Park Neighborhood, Employees of The MITRE Corporation

In the News! Featured in Fairfax ConnectionFairfax City PatchSun GazetteFairfax County Times

Thank You Notes from Our Families

We are receiving notes and emails from grateful families. Here are just a few:

  • “I’d like to thank you for the Thanksgiving gift card I received from my school that came from you. God bless you. I have not been working because just a few weeks ago I had my baby. The gift card will be very helpful.”
  • “This note is to profusely thank the people who made it possible for my children to have a Thanksgiving meal. When I received the call telling me the news that I was going to receive gift cards to buy groceries, and also a jacket and shoes for my kids, I was very distressed because I was out of money. But I trusted God, and then I got the call offering the assistance. Thank God for putting people like you in our lives!”
  • “My son brought a grocery card home today. I would like to thank everyone who made it possible for us to get this assistance. Have a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.”
  • “Thank you so much for helping my family! I received the gift card $100 yesterday. All my kids were so happy to buy new snacks and stuff.”
  • “We greatly appreciate you assisting our family. Thanks to your gift card, I was able to buy lots of food.”

Holiday 2022 recipient
This young man and his family are so grateful for your support. His mom sent us this wonderful photo of him and some of the gifts, necessities and snacks they were able to purchase with the gift card they received for the December holidays. She said, “We are very grateful for the gift cards. God bless you and Merry Christmas!”

CrossFit Reston Holiday Gift Card drive 2022
We are grateful to CrossFit Reston for once again hosting an angel tree to collect gift cards! On December 16, they brought us $2,025 in gift cards for our families. They have been supporting our families since 2019.

Meridian Park Falls Church Holiday 2022 donation
This is the 5th year that Brooke Thomas, now a high school senior, and her family have organized with their neighbors in Meridian Park in Falls Church to assist Britepaths’ families for the holidays. Last Wednesday, Brooke’s mom brought more than $1,000 in cash and gift cards donated by their caring community. In the pic are our Programs Manager Mila and a note from Brooke. We are grateful to them for continuing to support our families so generously.

We’re so grateful to St. Mark Catholic Church in Vienna for once again including our Holiday families on their giving tree. They had a HUGE giving day on December 4, and Bill Grossman brought us funds and gift cards for our families. They also support our work in many other ways throughout the year.

We are so grateful to our friends from Kiwanis Club of Fairfax for helping our holiday families each year for the last 10 years! Before Thanksgiving, Shirley Rich brought grocery store gift cards to assist two families for Thanksgiving and the December holidays. They support our work in many other ways throughout the year. We’re thankful to them for helping our neighbors.

City of Fairfax Schools staff picking up holiday gift cards for families November 2022
Early in November, staff from our FCPS partner schools came by to pick up the grocery store gift cards to distribute to the families that they referred for assistance. We all enjoyed our own Thanksgivings so much more knowing that our neighbors were sharing in the bounty. In the pic, clockwise from top left, are staff from some of our partner schools: Laura Cook from Daniels Run ES, Hala Shafik from Fairfax HS, and Piedad Dwyer (left) and Claudia de Paz from Providence ES.

American Legion Post 177 Holiday 2022 sponsorship
We’re so grateful to American Legion Post 177 in Fairfax for sponsoring our Holiday Program once again. On October 14, Finance Officer Mike Kimlick (left) and Commander Jeffrey White presented Executive Director Lisa Whetzel with a check for $2,500 for holiday meals for our families — enough to assist 25 families!
Holiday 22 web stories photo