The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington has set up an Israel Crisis Relief Fund that will provide essential support for those in need, with aid distributed swiftly through their partners on the ground.

While the needs continue to evolve, your support ensures that the people of Israel can receive:

• Financial aid to address immediate needs.
• Individuals and families who must now repair their homes or automobiles, cover supplemental medical payments, pay for funeral costs, and more.
• Access to temporary housing for those displaced due to the conflict.
• Long-term support and services to help terror victims access psychological counseling, job retraining, and more.
• Access to remote trauma services, including therapist hotlines for those who cannot leave their homes due to the current security situation.
• Trauma training for first responders, teachers, emergency volunteer teams, and others operating on the front lines of this crisis. 
• The operation of 12 resilience centers across Israel focused on supporting the rapid recovery of individuals and their communities, while strengthening national resilience.

My office is hosting our 4th Annual Food Drive from Monday, October 16th through Thursday, November 16th. The collected items will benefit Falls Church HS Pantry, Oakton HS Pantry, and The Lamb Center.

Donations can be dropped off at the Jim Scott Community Center (3001 Vaden Drive) from Monday to Saturday, 9am to 10pm.

The Holiday season is an especially busy time for food pantries, and we thank you in advance for your generosity. If you/your HOA/your organization is interested in helping collect donations, please email Providence@fairfaxcounty.gov and we will be happy to coordinate with you.

On Monday, I joined this amazing group of volunteers for an invasive plant removal session at Difficult Run Stream Valley Park. More than half of the volunteers were students representing two girl scout troops, a boy scout troop, and primary, middle, and high school students. Sivan and I pulled invasive Japanese stiltgrass and we loved seeing different ages and backgrounds coming together to restore natural habitat for our wildlife.

There will be another opportunity on Saturday, October 28th at 10am. Learn more and sign up here.

VolunteerFest is a community-wide day of service event with more than 25 projects happening across Fairfax County. Join with friends and neighbors to support a local nonprofit; work in a learning garden, join a public park cleanup, support a food drive, make caring cards, bake dog treats, and more! There are ways for everyone to get involved. Even if you can't be out in the community, you can find special at-home projects. 

Fairfax Connector recently unveiled its first battery-electric buses. These are paving the way for a more eco-friendly and efficient public transportation system across our county and are the latest sign of environmental progress alongside an all-electric trash truck and solar-powered county fire stations.

The eight buses are currently operating from the West Ox Operations and Maintenance Center. The next four will operate for the Huntington Bus Station and an additional four buses are in production. All of these are an effort to decrease county emissions and fully transition all buses and fleet vehicles by 2035 to electric or carbonless power. 

Autumn is officially here and our estimated 44 million trees will be putting on a spectacular show of colors lasting a few weeks in October.

Fall colors are popular everywhere, so check out the Virginia Fall Foliage Report to track where colors are changing across the Commonwealth.