Community Service

Gainesville Group Is Back

After a long break due to campaigning, we are back and ready to work once more to improve Prince William County. We will be meeting on Tuesday, December 13th (the second Tuesday of each month) to discuss an Adopt-A-Highway cleanup and a food drive for the MLK Day of Service in January.

Join us at Taste of Asian, 7921 Heritage Village Plz, Gainesville, VA 20155-3077 at 7 PM. All are welcome.

Halloween on the Highway – CANCELLED

DO TO LACK OF INTEREST AND CAMPAIGNING CLEAN UP IS CANCELLED UNTIL SOMETIME IN NOVEMEBER.

Adopt – A – Highway clean up RESCHEDULED

The second 2010 clean up of Heathcote Blvd. from Route 29 to Old Carolina Road will be held on Saturday July 31st at 9 am.  It takes about 2 hours to do the entire stretch. Volunteers are welcome to join us. We provide all equipment. Please RSVP to thegainesvillegroup@gmail.com.

Second Heathcote Adopt-A-Highway Cleanup Coming

After months of cold and snow Spring has finally made an appearance!!  What goes better with the warm weather, the singing birds and the blooming tulips  than a nice walk on a lovely (I hope) Saturday MORNING?

The next clean up effort of our sponsored 2 miles is scheduled for 10 AM April 17th. Our section of Heathcote is from Route 29 to Old Carolina Road. All the equipment is provided all you have to do is show up and walk a bit.

The last time it took us about two hours to complete the entire section. It’s a good walk with great friends, and it serves a good cause as well so I hope you’ll come on out and join us.

The Road Ahead

We met on the January 12th and discussed where we would be going in the year ahead. The Gainesville Group is going to take a detailed look at the issues that are on the minds of PWC residents. We’ll explore them, determine the points of view and attempt to organize forums, open to the public, to discuss and explain them.

To accomplish this goal, we have formed the Issues Committee consists of Carol, Judy, Suzanne, and Terry. They have been challenged to develop a method for identifying issues. Once this phase is underway we can look at how to research the identified issues, and begin thinking about appropriate forums.

The year ahead is going to be very exciting. We will have a finger on the pulse of Western PWC and be in a position to advocate for the kinds of policies and laws that will make a real difference in our community.

Our next meeting will be February 8th, 7 pm at Taste of Asian again. Hope to see you all there.

Highway Cleanup in December

The motley crew ready for duty. The vests were just lovely lol. The effort was worth the 2 mile walk. I tried to make it 4 but cooler heads prevailed. The next clean up will be in March stay tuned for details.

Day of Service Food Drive for SERVE

Only a few days left!! If you can’t collect maybe you’ll bring some food by?

Today I am announcing the second annual food drive for SERVE. Last
year we collected 1649 pounds of food in just 11 days. This year I’d
like to collect 2000 – one ton!

I’m asking you to join in the effort. Here’s how you can help:

1.  Modify the flyer for your neighborhood, print it, and
distribute it in your neighbors.

2.  Act as a collection point for your neighbors donations.

3.  On Tuesday January 19th at 11:00am, meet me with your collected
donations at the SERVE Foodbank, 10056 Dean Drive, Manassas VA.

Together we will unload the supplies and SERVE will weigh them. If you
can’t make the delivery on Tuesday I can pick up your donations and
deliver them for you, or you can bring them to our house at 6349
Retriever Lane, Gainesville (in Heritage Hunt). Specific items in
demand are the smallest sizes of disposable diapers, canned
vegetables, spaghetti and pasta, spaghetti sauces, mac and cheese. All
items should be non-perishable though they will take anything.

If you can help as a collector please send me your name and contact
info. If you want to donate please bring your donation to our house. I
will also come get your stuff if you can’t get it here, just let me
know where and when.

The demand for services has doubled in the last couple of years,
primarily as a result of the economy. Many of the people utilizing
SERVE today were donors only a year or so ago. Some of these people
could be your neighbors, friends from your church, or even co-workers
struggling with reduced hours or layoffs. I hope you will devote a few
hours to this effort over the next week.

FLYER

Greetings Neighbors

As most of you know, January 18th has been designated a day of service in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King. To that end, I am helping conduct a food drive to benefit SERVE in Manassas.

SERVE, Inc. is a non-profit community organization dedicated to strengthening the Prince William County, Manassas and Manassas Park community through comprehensive programs and partnerships that provide basic needs and promote economic independence for homeless and underprivileged individuals and families. In the last year demands for their services has increased enormously.

We are looking to collect non-perishable food items to be delivered to the SERVE food warehouse on Tuesday the 19th (SERVE is closed MLK day). Would you be willing to help in this effort by going through your pantry and donating usable items?

If you have any questions give us a call our address and phone number are below. If you can, please drop off your contributions at our home. We will also stop by and pick up your donation if that’s easier and we’ll make sure your contributions are delivered to the SERVE warehouse.

These are difficult times and particularly so for those already facing financial difficulties. It’s become all too clear that misfortune can strike any of us at any time. Your generosity will make a real difference in the lives of hundreds of families in our area.

Thanks for your help in this drive, and I hope 2010 is off to a good start for you and your loved ones.

Your contact info

A New Year Begins – Looking Back, Looking Ahead

In the year ahead we will be taking on the issues that most affect the residents of Prince William County. We plan to explore each issue in detail, discuss it with our neighbors through a variety of forums and then begin advocating for the kinds of legislation or programs that will address the issues.

Read more...

October November Newsletter Available

Click here to read the latest news about The Gainesville Group.

A great experience

I want to thank John Bell and his campaign staff for the wonderful campaign they ran. Though bucking a considerable political headwind, John ran, what in my limited experience, was a masterful campaign. Everyone I talked to knocking doors or making phone calls who had met John was won over by him. His willingness to talk to them and listen to them made each voter feel like he was their personal candidate.

I came on board in July and I learned so much I will need some time to digest it all. Though the outcome was not what we wished for, the experience of working with a first class team and a first class candidate was worth every minute.

I hope that one takeaway from Tuesday will be an understanding of how important it is for Democrats to remain involved. That regardless of who might top the ticket a lot of good candidates went down to defeat in part because Democrats did not appreciate the need to work at the local level regardless of the state-wide ticket.

I believe it was the late Tip O’Neil who said all politics is local. Now we need to make local politics ours. We need to build the party infrastructure, build links to the community, and look to the 2010 elections.

The Gainesville Group needs to grow as well and increase our ability to positively affect the lives of people in the Western end of PWC. We need to rededicate ourselves to serving our community and to our mission of supporting our candidates and committees in every way possible.

We have the choice to either sit back and point fingers, or to step up and make ourselves heard. Call Bob Marshall on his cell as he requested when he introduces bills you don’t like. Challenge him to live up to his campaign promises on roads and schools.

Do not allow the disappointment of Tuesday to drive us from the field. Perhaps after last November we sat on our laurels and this November we paid the price. Not only in the loss of John Bell, but in the Paul Nichols and Chuck Caputo losses as well as others. Too many good candidates went down to defeat when there was more we could have done to win those races. We must never allow that to happen again.