Help a needy family celebrate Thanksgiving

The Kiwanis Club of Fairfax sponsored a family for the holidays last year through Our Daily Bread. [Kiwanis Club photo]

Our Daily Bread is seeking assistance from the community to help provide holiday meals and gifts to low-income individuals and families.

More than 3,000 Fairfax County households have been registered for the organization’s Holiday Program by county and school social workers and other agencies.

Volunteers who want to help can sponsor individuals or families and provide meals and gifts to them or can donate funds or gift cards to Our Daily Bread so ODB can help those who are not matched with sponsors.

“There is a huge amount of need for assistance in Annandale and Falls Church,” reports ODB spokesperson Heather Webb.

If you’re interested in being a sponsor, you can sign up online. You can volunteer to provide a Thanksgiving meal, a December holiday meal, and/or gifts for children under 18. You can choose a location and whether you want to sponsor a small, large, or medium-sized family. Once, you’re matched with a family, you’ll be expected to contact them and arrange to deliver their items.

If you’d prefer to be a “virtual sponsor,” you can make an online donation, and ODB will provide a grocery gift card to the family you’ve been matched with. 

For Thanksgiving, the deadline to register as a sponsor is Nov. 14. To be a “virtual sponsor,” the deadline is Nov. 7.

ODB also welcomes cash donations or the donation of grocery store and discount store gift cards to help provide assistance to families who are not matched. Donations can be made online. Checks and gift cards can also be mailed or delivered to Our Daily Bread at 4080 Chain Bridge Road, 2nd Floor, Fairfax, VA 22030. For more information about the Holiday Program, contact Our Daily Bread at 703-273-8829 or [email protected].

There are lots of other ways to help ODB serve needy community members, including corporate sponsorships, volunteering to deliver food, becoming a mentor, or attending a fundraiser.

One of this year’s corporate sponsors, Koons Falls Church Ford,  has signed up to sponsor 300 needy families in the Falls Church area. Annandale Christian Community for Action is one of many local partners taking part in the ODB Holiday Program.

ODB’s Wine and Wonderment event Nov. 19, 6:30-8:30 p.m.at 2941 Restaurant (2941 Fairview Park Drive, Falls Church) will raise funds toward assisting families not matched with sponsors. Tickets are $50 per person for wine tasting and appetizers. The deadline for purchasing tickets is Nov. 14.