Throughout this winter season, the Brambleton Community Association has hosted several events and charity drives in order to give back to the community this holiday season. Every year, the neighborhood’s homeowner’s association has something planned to help those in need and spread holiday cheer to residents while doing so. The four main events during the 2019-2020 holiday season were the Salvation Army Angel Tree, Santa’s Holiday Tour with the Arcola Fire Department, the American Cross Caregiver Kit drive, and the blanket drive for the INOVA Children’s Hospital.
In November, the annual Salvation Army Angel Tree donations were announced on the community website, kickstarting the season of generosity. The Christmas tree, decorated with angel tags, was placed inside the Welcome Center for all community members to see. Brambleton residents would pick a tag and provide the wishes listed from the child in need to bring back to the Angel Tree for donation. This is a popular charity tradition that has taken place in the town center for years now, and it gives families a way to bring joy to local children.
The next event, Santa’s Holiday Tour, took place in early December. The Arcola Fire Department worked with the BCA (Brambleton Community Association) to arrange “Santa Stops” throughout the community. At each stop, families could personally hand their donations to Santa in his sleigh, yielding truckloads of donations for the Loudoun Women’s Shelter and food pantry, as well as clothing, toys, and gifts for teens.
In addition to charity events, the community also held donation drives. One such drive was in partnership with the American Red Cross. The BCA reached out to residents, asking them to provide items such as eye masks, earbuds, lip balm, and notebooks, that were made into Caregiver Kits. The kits were then given to the family members of patients at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland.
The community center also collected homemade fleece blankets for the INOVA Children’s Hospital. The BCA has been donating to INOVA for about four years and has given them around 200 blankets to date. Dana Vinci, the Brambleton Lifestyle and Events specialist said, “When I was reaching out to non-profits and hospitals to see what they were in need of, this idea came up and seemed like a great charity and fun craft for families to do.”
Stacks of fleece blanket donations were collected at the Brambleton Community Center. The homemade blankets were donated to the INOVA Children’s Hospital.