Community activist Mollie Loeffler lauded as FX CO Citizen of the Year

Loeffler

At a banquet last night before a room full of friends and dignitaries, Mason District community leader Mollie Loeffler, accepted an award from the Fairfax County Federation of Citizens Associations as “Fairfax County Citizen of the Year.”

Loretta Prencipe, president of the Lincolnia Park Civic Association,  introduced Loeffler as “a community builder who inspires people to work together.”

Loeffler, who also happens to be the Annandale blog’s advertising director, told the audience how she became motivated to become a neighborhood activist four years ago to improve the quality of life for her children.

She re-established the Parklawn Civic Association after becoming concerned about the deterioration of property and the growing number of multiple-occupancy houses in Parklawn.

Through Loeffler’s leadership, the Parklawn Civic Association won two Fairfax County Neighborhood Enhancement Partnership Program grants—one for an anti-litter campaign and the improvement of common areas in Parklawn, and another to support a new playground and kiosk in Glasgow Park.

Realizing that many other aging neighborhoods in the Annandale/Mason District area faced the same problems, Loeffler began making contact with other nearby civic associations and revitalized the Mason District Council of Community Associations, which had become dormant. She helped create a website for the council to enable community leaders to share ideas and to showcase successful programs.

The keynote speaker at the banquet, which was co-sponsored by Science Applications International Corp., was Washington Post Publisher Katherine Weymouth, who spoke about her efforts to maintain the Washington Post as a prestigious national news organization and to strengthen local news coverage in an evolving media landscape.

Also during the banquet, Tania Hossain, president of the Fairfax County Federation of Citizens Associations, presented a Citation of Merit to Charles Dane, who has held several leadership positions with the federation. Special Gratitude Awards were presented to County Executive Anthony Griffin and to William D. Lecos, whose leadership has helped secure transportation and infrastructure funding for the county.

Among those in attendance at the banquet, at the Crowne Plaza Tysons Corner, were Rep. Gerry Connolly; Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova; former board chair Kate Hanley; Supervisors Penny Gross, Cathy Hudgins, and Linda Smyth; state Sen. Vivian Watts; and school board member Sandy Evans.