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Don't miss Ghost Town at FCPA's Burke Lake Park on Saturday, October 25 and Sunday, October 26, 2025, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
This is a Family-friendly Halloween event, Family members can come in their best costumes to celebrate the holiday with an afternoon packed with fun but not-spooky activities. The Ghost Town includes themed activity areas, train ride, carousel ride, crafts and mini golf.
Online tickets are $20 and available online up until two days before the event. Tickets the day of the event are $25. The price of admission covers all Ghost Town activities and services for one person. Pick up passes at the ice cream parlor on the day of the event. Children under age 2 ride free but must be accompanied by a paying adult.
Register for Ghost Town today!
See other Fairfax County Park Authority Fall fun activities and events!
Your gift to FCPF will help sponsor access to camps, classes, adapted programs, and community equity outreach events like this. Donate Today!
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FCPA is bringing pumpkins, costumed events, train rides, harvest fairs, scenic treks, outdoor adventure, fitness fun, golf par-tees and local flavor (cider alert!) to the scene!
Find MORE Fall Carnival Fun at Frying Pan Farm Park; Goblin Golf, Sensory-Friendly Family Trick-or Treat; Halloween Fun Runs; Halloween on the Farm; Haunted Mini Golf; Ghost Town; and more Halloweekend Thrills of Fall Fun for your friends and family!
Your gift to FCPF will help sponsor access to camps, classes, adapted programs, and community equity outreach events like these. Donate Today!
| | | Help FCPF Keep FCPA Parks Thriving – Especially Now! | | |
The Fairfax County Park Foundation (FCPF) works to enhance our award-winning park system by raising voluntary donations for important FCPA park improvements, outreach projects, educational programs and cultural events that build community.
But this vital work doesn’t happen by itself. And now, due to recent Fairfax County Park Authority budget cuts, your support is more important than ever! Behind every new FCPF-supported improvement is a dedicated team that builds connections, secures grants and maximizes donations for lasting impact.
Your gift for FCPF Essential Operations is critical – it helps sustain the salaries and administrative functions needed for professional leadership, financial accountability and capacity needed to maintain the momentum that keeps our 422 parks, spanning 23,800 acres, vibrant and welcoming for more than 16 million visitors each year.
By donating to the Fairfax County Park Foundation, you’re providing mandatory resources to help maintain a strong foundation that helps programs to thrive, even in these challenging times. FCPF needs your help to continue to make parks flourish- despite the budget cuts.
Please donate $5,000, $1,000, $500, $250, $100, $50 or whatever you can.
Every gift makes a difference now and for the future of our parks! You can even spread your generosity throughout the year as a Sustaining Donor. Set up your automatic monthly gift through our website, or your bank.
Donations for essential operations enable FCPF to raise funds that improve our neighbors’ lives by providing accessible recreation and parks; environmental stewardship and education; free concerts, and engaging community outreach events. Your donation today will provide meaningful help to FCPF where needed most especially in these challenging times!
Every gift makes a difference now and for the future of our parks! You can even spread your generosity throughout the year as a Sustaining Donor. Set up your automatic monthly gift through our website, or your bank.
Donate ONLINE by credit, debit or PayPal OR print this to MAIL a donation to help FCPF support the parks that you love!
| | Congratulations 2025 Eakin Philanthropy Honorees! | | Helen L. Kafka, FCPF Legacy Circle member, is honored posthumously for her thoughtful planning and generous bequest to fund Earth Day Fairfax, the Moon Gate at Green Spring Gardens; Woodlands Stewardship Education Center and FCPF Forever Fund endowment to ensure that future generations may enjoy our beloved parks. | |  | Pohanka Automotive and The Scott A. & Phyllis P. Crabtree Family Foundation enrich Fairfax County parks through the popular Summer Entertainment Series sponsorships to FCPF and the first Wonder Wagon Mobile Nature Center vehicle donation, which helps expand environmental education and community access to nature. | | | The McLean Central Park Playground Team (MCPT) is a grassroots group recognized for partnering with the Fairfax County Park Foundation, raising nearly $500,000 for playground renovation at McLean Central Park through community fundraising, and numerous events. | | | History of the FCPF Eakin Philanthropy Award | | Frying Pan Farm Park's NASCOW Race Returns! | | |
NASCOW is a race with COWS at Frying Pan Farm Park on Thursday, October 23, 2025!
Frying Pan Farm Park's resident cows are the racers. They love to eat, and the prospect of being first to the finish line to enjoy extra-tasty brewer’s grain gets them very excited to be the first to arrive at the finish line.
Sponsor your favorite COW to win. Sponsor the NASCOW you hope will win. Visit the sponsorship page for special options – preferred seating, fence banners, recognition and more. Corporate sponsorships also available.
The Friends of Frying Pan Farm Park provide NASCOW event details online!
| | | Your old car is a vehicle for change! | | |
"Judie and I had a car that we’re no longer using. We found vehicle donation programs online and chose the Park Foundation. You guys do great things for Fairfax County parks, so we couldn’t think of a better place to donate our car!”
- Frank, pictured with wife Judie and their vehicle donated to help FCPF prior to his passing.
Donate your car, truck, motorcycle, boat, motor-home or other vehicle to the Fairfax County Park Foundation. Not only will you get rid of an unwanted vehicle without the hassle and expense of trying to sell it, you will get a tax deduction to the fullest extent of the law. Your donation will support FCPF’s essential operations which are necessary to sustain FCPF, the fundraising arm dedicated to enriching your beautiful Fairfax County parks!
Donating is fast and easy - and vehicle pick-up is free through our partner CARS (Charitable Adult Rides & Services). We accept cars, trucks, boats, and motor homes - even if not in operating condition.
Learn how YOU can Give a Car!
Please submit the CARS online form or give a call to CARS at 855-500-7433. It's that easy to initiate your vehicle donation today!
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"Elizabeth and I are pleased to support parks and everything that parks do for Fairfax County citizens!"
-Thomas Chennikara,
FCPF Donor Advised Fund contributor
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Donors with appreciated stock, real estate, works of art, shared business interests, cash, or other assets may find creating a Donor Advised Fund (DAF) a convenient and tax-efficient way to make charitable donations.
A donor establishes a Donor Advised Fund by making an irrevocable, tax-deductible donation to a nonprofit foundation of a financial company operated by Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab Charitable or other similar entity.
Such contributed funds may be tax-deductible in the year of the initial donation. The funds are held and invested until the donor ‘advises’ the Fairfax County Park Foundation or other approved charity to receive a grant from the fund.
To learn more about the process to create a Donor Advised Fund, consult your financial advisor.
Your gift to FCPF via a DAF is a mutually beneficial way to make a positive difference!
| | United through Workplace GIving! | | |
To make a tax-deductible contribution to support your parks, consider a payroll deduction through United Way, the Combined Federal Campaign, or the Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign. The Fairfax County Park Foundation participates in numerous major workplace giving programs in the DMV!
As a proud partner of the United Way of the National Capital Area, we join their commitment to help build sustainable, inclusive, equitable, and resilient communities through Fairfax County Park Foundation-supported programs and projects.
When you complete your employer's pledge form, select the FCPF code number (listed below). If you don't find the Park Foundation in your employer's charitable giving program, simply designate that your gift be directed to the 'Fairfax County Park Foundation'.
Retired or self-employed?
See how you may Set up Monthly Giving for Fairfax County parks!
| | Moment of Beauty in YOUR parks! | | |
This month's Moment of Beauty features ‘Spanish flag’ (Ipomoea lobata) vines growing on the fence at the Oakmont Recreation Center mini golf course in Oakton. These are annual flowers grown from seed by FCPA's much-appreciated long-time volunteer Bob Rogers!
We would love to publish your Moment of Beauty in a future newsletter. Please share your original photo, naming the FCPA park, your name, and any description to the FCPF email.
Use the Park Amenity Locator to find a picturesque park near you!
Park Amenity Locator | Park Authority (fairfaxcounty.gov)
| | Find Upcoming Activities at your Parks! | | | |
Support YOUR Fairfax County Parks!
Every gift helps and is greatly appreciated.
There are many ways to help parks, including:
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