Dear Neighbor,

Chairman McKay, Park Authority Director Jai Cole, Friends of Lake Accotink Park, and I will be among those offering remarks at 11:00 a.m. I hope to see you there!

If utilizing another County center is not a possibility for you, the Park Authority has included an exception for the closure to their membership freeze form. Members of the Audrey Moore RECenter can use this form to freeze their membership during the RECenter closure and extend their membership for the same duration.

This month, Chief Davis of the Fairfax County Police Department released a video to discuss the staffing needs and solutions that the county and police department are undertaking to retain and grow.

Law enforcement agencies across our region and nation are experiencing severe staffing shortages due to a number of factors, especially the strong private sector job market. In fact, the Virginia State Police recently graduated its smallest class of new Troopers in its history, with just 19 graduates. This afternoon, I was honored to attend a Fairfax County Police Academy graduation with 31 talented graduates. As Chief Davis says, we will continue to explore ways to attract and retain police officers to ensure that Fairfax County remains the safest jurisdiction of its size in the nation.

Supervisor James Walkinshaw

This Saturday, Fairfax County will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the conversion of the Lake Accotink site into the outdoor recreational gem that it is today! Join the Friends of Lake Accotink Park, Supervisor James Walkinshaw, and the Fairfax County Park Authority in celebrating this beautiful mainstay of our Braddock District community.

As the school year has begun, please use extra caution during your morning and evening commutes. The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department has released the following video to explain the precautions drivers should take approaching school crossings and student transportation vehicles.

Join Volunteer Fairfax for the 2022 VolunteerFest on Saturday, September 17! For over 25 years, Volunteer Fairfax has hosted VolunteerFest, an annual fall event to mobilize volunteers across the County to support nonprofits and government agencies in accomplishing wish-list projects and securing donation needs.  VolunteerFest is a great way for community members to learn about local nonprofits and to serve, along with hundreds of other volunteers, on a variety of projects happening across the community during this day of service. Many people will make a connection to an organization that they want to continue to serve. However, the commitment volunteers make here is to turn out for this one day of service and to be open to learning about the mission and work of many great local agencies and nonprofits in Fairfax County.

Applications for non-profit partners to register their service projects for inclusion in VolunteerFest are due tomorrow and can be found here. If you have any questions about how to participate or want to talk more about this event, please email Hollie Gordon at hgordon@volunteerfairfax.org.

The dedicated volunteers of the Friends of Kings Park Library work through the year to collect hundreds of donated books from the community and sponsor community activities. This year, the organization would like to invite other members of the Braddock District community to join their group of dedicated volunteers. If you have time and would like to get involved, please contact the organization's president, Dennis Chamot at dennis.chamot@yahoo.com.

Inova Blood Donor Services has indicated that it has only a two-day inventory of blood available and is asking for your help. Donations and inventory have not dipped this low since January, when the American Red Cross declared its first ever national blood crisis. Blood donations typically drop over the summer. To find a blood drive near you, visit the Inova Blood Donation page.

From Tuesday, August 30, through Friday, September 2, the right lane of eastbound Braddock Road will be closed in front of Erickson Senior Living’s Woodleigh Chase project, from Burke Station Road to the road across from the entrance to Fairfax Memorial Park. This lane closure is for stormwater work and removal of the curb and existing mixed-use path to allow installation of a new right-turn lane onto the road across from Fairfax Memorial Park, which will serve the new DMV Customer Service Center. A new temporary gravel path will be created along the frontage and should be open on Friday. The temporary path will be in place until further notice. Please be aware that this path will not be paved until the curb is reinstalled, so residents may want to avoid walking in this area. Additional information will be provided when it is available.

The traffic signal upgrades include new mast arm poles, foundations, wiring, electrical equipment, high-visibility signal backplates and signs. Also, drivers on Backlick Road will have flashing yellow arrows for left turns to Leesville Boulevard and the office park. 

Pedestrians will have four new crosswalks with Accessible Pedestrian Signals at the intersection, as well as two new pedestrian islands on Leesville Boulevard. Other pedestrian improvements include Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) curb ramp upgrades and installations. 

The $700,000 project is financed with federal Highway Safety Improvement Program funding and is scheduled for completion in summer 2023. 

For the most recent updates and to learn more, visit the VDOT project webpage. 

You can get real-time traffic, work zone and incident information online at 511virginia.org, via the free mobile 511Virginia app, or by calling 511 in Virginia anywhere anytime. 

Adults 18 years of age and older who have never received a COVID-19 vaccine and are interested in getting one can now make an appointment for the recently authorized Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine, Adjuvanted. Due to limited availability, Novavax will only be offered by appointment.

You can schedule an appointment at the Fairfax County Government Center or the Fairfax County South County Hyland Center vaccination clinics by visiting www.vaccines.gov or by calling the COVID-19 call center at (703) 324-7404. Novavax is administered as a two-dose primary series, three weeks apart. More information on the COVID-19 vaccine is available at the Fairfax County Emergency Blog.

If you are more likely to get very sick from COVID-19, effective treatment is available that can prevent illness from becoming worse, leading to hospitalization and death.

Fairfax residents continue to be encouraged to get the COVID-19 vaccine and stay up-to-date on their boosters. If you are eligible for a vaccination or a booster, please visit the federal resource page for COVID-19 vaccines or book an appointment through the Fairfax County Health Department. Vaccines are available to all individuals over 6 months of age.

If you tested positive for COVID-19, or have been exposed, it is important to take the steps recommended by the Fairfax County Health Department to help slow the spread of COVID-19 in your family and in the community.

Check the most up-to-date COVID figures at the Virginia Department of Health website.

Thursdays 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. and Sundays 8:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.

Receive free at-home tests from the Postal Service.

Receive free vision-impaired at-home tests from the Postal Service.

Check your at-home tests for their extended expiration date.

As Monkeypox has become of greater concern to Fairfax County residents in the past weeks, the County has released resources and information on the Monkeypox virus. The Fairfax County Health Department is working with the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) and with other local public health agencies to respond to outbreaks of monkeypox occurring in the U.S. and in other countries.

According to the CDC and FCHD, monkeypox is a disease caused by infection with the monkeypox virus. Disease can spread through close contact including: