e-Pathfinder | August 2022
Katherine Johnson Middle School Principal Dr. Tammy Hanna Silipigni with the backpacks our volunteers delivered this week.

School starts in just a few weeks, and Britepaths is working with our partner Campus Survival Kits and our wonderful volunteers to get school supply kits and new backpacks to school staff at our partner schools in the Fairfax HS and Justice HS pyramids so they can distribute them to their students.

We are getting very close to our fundraising goal to cover the cost of the supply kits!

Please Donate if you can!

Many Thanks to all who are donating and our volunteers who have been helping pick up, sort and distribute backpacks to our partner schools!

And A Big Thank You to:

Our Sponsors: NVAR Cares, Fairfax Ace Hardware (formerly Twins Ace), Godman Power Group, Inc. and MainStreet Bank

Featured by NOVA Chamber
“Many folks have barely recovered – if at all – from the pandemic only to face additional financial hardships due to inflation. Demand for food assistance, rent, and car repair assistance is rising, and many of the families who are referred to us are at high risk of becoming homeless,” said Britepaths Executive Director Lisa Whetzel.

Britepaths is a long-time member of the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce, and we appreciate them examining the very concerning issue of inflation and how it is affecting members of our local workforce who were already reeling from the pandemic. We hope those who are able will help our neighbors by supporting Northern Virginia nonprofits like ours.
"On the Heels of the Pandemic: Inflation-Induced Hunger"

Read the NOVA Chamber Article
Healthy Food for All!
Happy National Farmers Market Week! Britepaths is celebrating by highlighting and thanking our partners and volunteers who make our SNAP Matching program at the Annandale Farmers Market and Our Daily Veggies programs possible.

Visit Our Farmers Market Initiatives page to learn more and see our SNAP partners and Our Daily Veggies vendors

View our Instagram Guide to see our posts
Our SNAP table at the Annandale Farmers Market this morning. From left, Programs Manager Mila Cobos and volunteers Faith Hoyle and Michael Fay. Michael is the volunteer Farmers Market Manager at Annandale.
Photos, Stories and More...
Some of Britepaths' clients recently joined us for a special portrait session with local photographer Hernan Vargas, who has created amazing photos of our families, staff and events for several years.

Stay tuned for more photos and stories coming this fall! Contact Hernan at ninovar@cox.net to learn more about his photography services. View his Flickr portfolio.
Photo by Hernan Vargas
Virtual Resources
Britepaths and the Financial Empowerment Center at South County offer a variety of free virtual services and workshops. Services include free and confidential Financial Coaching, Workforce/Job Readiness Consulting, Small Business Consulting and Tax Preparation Consulting. Financial Coaching and Workforce Consulting are also available in Spanish.

Please share our Virtual Resources page with anyone you know who might benefit. Join our LinkedIn Group to receive updates on offerings and services. Click Here to read/subscribe to the FECSoCo Monthly Enews.

Workforce Development Training: Britepaths and FECSoCo are preparing for a new Learning to Launch pre-employment series. Our Fall AWS re/Start Training and Google IT/Comp TIA A+ cohorts are underway. Information and interest surveys are available for our Winter/Spring 2023 offerings. Visit our Avenues to Career Training page for details. Contact Sally Meyer with questions about Workforce offerings; Contact Shannon Bryant if your organization is interested in employing our AWS and Google IT graduates with certification.
 
Virtual Highlights: Click Here for Details
  • Small Business Workshops
  • Personal Finance and Career Building Workshops also in Spanish
  • Monthly Credit Report Review Clinic
  • Free Consumer Law Legal Assistance available in Spanish
  • Free Budgeting Classes -- evening and morning options, also in Spanish
Volunteer
Britepaths has a number of new and ongoing volunteer needs. They are updated regularly on our Volunteer Page. Contact Sidney Arrington at volunteer@britepaths.org or 703.273.8829 with questions.
 
Opportunities Include:
Special Thanks!
Food Pantry Supporters
We've received an outpouring of donations to our Emergency Pantry since we put out the word last month that we were running low. Thank you to all who are helping us feed our families. We still greatly welcome donations. Click Here for details.


Donations and Grants

The Closet of Herndon: We're grateful to The Closet of the Greater Herndon Area, Inc. for providing a $3,500 grant to support our Food4Thought weekend food for kids program.

Evangelical Lutheran Church: A huge thank you to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for providing $5,000 this year as part of a 3-year grant for our Food Bridge program.

Lutheran Church of the Redeemer: Thank you to Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in McLean for providing a $750 grant to our Food Bridge program.

Former Financial Assistance Volunteer Leslie Woods (left) brought Pantry donations on Aug. 10.
Grayson and Caleb organized an art sale recently and donated the proceeds to our Back to School program!
Britepaths
Our Mission is to provide our neighbors in need with short-term safety-net services and empower them to work toward long-term self-sufficiency.