FACETS hosts Family Day at Annandale Community Park

FACETS, the nonprofit organization that operates the Opportunity Neighborhoods initiative for Annandale, hosted a Family Day at Annandale Community Park on Sept. 13.

Kids and their parents learned about frogs and toads at the Hidden Oaks Nature Center. They painted sunflowers and made greeting cards and paper hats at the Packard Center with volunteers from the Artisans United Craft Gallery. They also played games and enjoyed lunch in the park.

Opportunity Neighborhoods (ON) is a Fairfax County program that brings community partners and agencies together to provide resources to vulnerable youths and their families based on the needs identified by residents.

ON-Annandale focuses on residents of the Vistas, Wedgewood, and Fairmont Gardens apartments.

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The Family Day event was aimed at bringing families to a nearby park that many of them hadn’t known about, while acquainting them with Park Authority programs.

According to a survey by FACETS, Annandale residents said there aren’t enough activities for children. There actually are plenty of places nearby with opportunities for kids, “but the people we serve aren’t aware they are here,” said Terry Angelotti, director of community development at FACETS.

About three-quarters of those surveyed said they’d never been to the Hidden Oaks Nature Center, the Audrey Moore Rec Center, or the James Lee Community Center.

Among the volunteers who helped out at the event was a contingent from the Zeta Tau chapter of the Iota Phi Theta fraternity at George Mason University.