‘Community Champions’ make Annandale a better place
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| Bob Kahane (right) thanks elected leaders for their support at the 2019 Taste of Annandale. From the left: Mason Supervisor Penny Gross, Del. Vivian Watts, and then-chair of the Board of Supervisors Sharon Bulova. |
Among the Community Champions honored by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors April 13 are two volunteers who are making Annandale a better place.
Every year, each member of the board selects one outstanding individual to receive the Community Champion Award.
Supervisor Penny Gross (Mason) presented the 2021 award for a Mason District resident to Bob Kahane, the chair of the Taste of Annandale Planning Committee and long-time president of the Annandale Rotary Club.
The annual Taste of Annandale is the biggest community celebration in Mason District, featuring restaurants, food trucks, entertainment, a 5K Race, and much more. After a hiatus last year due to the pandemic, the festival will be back on Oct. 2, 2021.
As the chair of the planning committee, Kahane is responsible for rounding up sponsors and vendors, organizing volunteers, ensuring the event meets all the county requirements, and attending to myriad other details to ensure the event runs smoothly.
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| Betsy Clevenger at the Heritage Mission Center in Annandale. |
The 2021 Community Champion for the Braddock District is Betsy Clevenger, who, for the past decade, has been operating a food and clothing distribution center at the Annandale United Methodist Church’s Heritage Mission Center on Heritage Drive.
Before March 2020, Clevenger helped serve an average of 65 families every week, Supervisor James Walkinshaw (Braddock) said. Once the COVID pandemic took hold, “the need for food skyrocketed, and she rose to the occasion.”
Related story: Volunteers distribute hundreds of meals a week to Annandale’s needy families
In a typical week, Clevenger and the other volunteers prepare and give out 220 bags filled with groceries, while also distributing to local families emergency food boxes, prepared meals, children’s clothing, diapers, and other items.
“Her tireless efforts and organizational prowess have ensured that thousands of our neighbors have food to eat and warm clothes to wear,” Walkinshaw said.