Beneficiaries

Do you have a favorite cause?  Let us know about it!  NDWC will accept applications from members on behalf of charitable organizations to receive funds during the next club year.  Organizations that are approved by the NDWC Board will be placed on the member ballot in late August.  Members vote for six organizations to support.  Funds are generally disbursed in June at the end of the club year. 

Beneficiary Selection Guidelines

These are the organizations selected for the 2011-2012 club year.

Claude Moore Colonial Farm  (HISTORIC PRESERVATION)

2011 marks the 38th anniversary of the Farm's founding, and the 30th year that the non-profit organization, The Friends of The Claude Moore Colonial Farm at Turkey Run, Inc., has successfully managed the Farm as the only privately operated park in the National Park system.

The Claude Moore Colonial Farm was established as Turkey Run Farm by the National Park Service in 1972 under President Nixon's Legacy-in-the-Parks program. When federal budget cutbacks threatened the closure of the Farm in 1980, the community rallied to save this popular educational resource. The citizens' group, incorporated in 1981 as The Friends of Turkey Run Farm, Inc., raised the funds immediately necessary to keep the park open as plans were made for the Farm's long-term financial and operational stability. The Friends planned and raised funds in 1984 to construct a rental picnic facility to earn additional revenue. The Pavilions of Turkey Run, as the new facility was named, offers expanded facilities to the community and enhances awareness of the Farm and its programs through increased visitation by a larger audience.

 

Falls Church/McLean Children’s Center  (EDUCATION)

The Falls Church-McLean Children's Center offers a year-round, full-day early childhood education program for children ages 2-5. Since 1968, the Center has offered a high quality, traditional pre-school program to an exceptionally diverse student body. Founded to address the community's need for affordable child-care, the Center reserves at least 60% of its spots for the children of low-income working families and takes tremendous pride in its long track record of preparing children from all walks of life to successfully enter kindergarten.

The Center opened its doors with an enrollment of fifteen children. From these humble beginnings in the basement of Chesterbrook Presbyterian Church, the Center has grown to its current enrollment of 70+ children, in a dedicated wing of Lemon Road Elementary School, built especially for the Center in 2003.

 

Homestretch  (HELPING HANDS TO IMPROVE THE LIVES OF OTHERS)

Homestretch was founded in 1990 by Nancy Taxson and Kieran Sharpe as a way to respond to a national crisis of homelessness. The idea was to get homeless families off the street and into safe homes as quickly as possible, where they could then receive further help. Homestretch offers on site a series of services that, when taken together, surround the families with such a holistic array of care that it is possible for the families to make dramatic transformations in their lives.

Our mission is to empower homeless families with children under age 18 in Northern Virginia to attain permanent housing and self-sufficiency by giving them the skills, knowledge and hope they need to become productive participants in the community. These services include: subsidized housing and free utilities; intensive case management; employment services; job training; credit counseling, money management, financial literacy and savings program; free tax preparation; ESL classes; GED tutoring; tutoring and mentoring for children; computer literacy; Life Skills classes; parenting help; health and wellness training; substance abuse counseling; domestic violence education and support; psychotherapy; transportation assistance; legal assistance; onsite child care and free or subsidized child care for working parents; micro-loans; CDL classes; a wide variety of children’s services; and access to free food and clothing. Homestretch has won numerous awards for the outstanding results we have achieved over the years in helping people trapped in homelessness and crisis move toward stability and independence.

 

McLean Project for the Arts (MPA)  (COMMUNITY ART)

The mission of McLean Project for the Arts is to exhibit the work of emerging and established artists from the mid-Atlantic region; to promote public awareness and understanding of the concepts of contemporary art; and to offer instruction and education in the visual arts.

MPA is a non-profit visual arts center founded in 1962 to exhibit the work of emerging and established regional artists. In addition to its program of high quality, professionally-curated art exhibitions, MPA presents special traveling exhibitions from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. MPA/Corcoran, an educational partnership, offers art classes for children and adults taught by instructors from the Corcoran College of Art + Design. MPA also presents the Art Reach program for area schools, gallery talks, and day trips to area museums and galleries.

 

Reading is Fundamental of Northern Virginia  (LITERACY)

Founded in 1972 with the assistance of what is now the Junior League of Northern Virginia, we strive to put the FUN into reading for young children.

The purpose of RIF is to motivate children to read by providing attractive, inexpensive paperback books that the children may choose and keep for their very own. The books are free and are displayed at book distributions where the children are able to choose from a wide variety of colorful, interesting paperback books. In most of the programs, the distributions are held in school libraries.

 

SHARE, Inc.  (HELPING HANDS TO IMPROVE THE LIVES OF OTHERS)

SHARE, Inc. was established in 1969 by a coalition of religious and civic institutions to meet the emergency needs of the less fortunate in McLean, Great Falls, Pimmit Hills, and surrounding areas. Share is sustained by donations of food, clothing, furniture and funds, and is administered by volunteers. Share aids lower income families through our food pantry, family assistance and furniture program. SHARE operates from the McLean Baptist Church.

SHARE, Inc. of McLean, Virginia, has an annual budget of $200,000 raised from participating houses of worship, local service organizations, corporations, and generous individuals. With an all-volunteer staff, we are a true charitable organization -- with no paid employees. As such, all of our resources are devoted to program operations, which are conducted year-round through the efforts of our members and volunteers.

 

 

 

 

 

• Claude Moore Colonial Farm
• Falls Church-McLean Children's Center
• Homestretch
• McLean Project for the Arts (MPA)
• Reading is Fundamental of Northern Virginia
• SHARE, Inc.

 

 

 

• Adopt-A-Highway
• Alden Theater Summer Sunday Concert Series
• Falls Church-McLean
  Children's Center
• McLean Project for the Arts (MPA)
• MPA artfest
• McLean Winterfest
• McLean Youth Orchestra
• Meals on Wheels
• Reading is Fundamental of Northern Virginia
• SHARE, Inc.

 

• Adopt-A-Highway
• Alden Theater
• Association for Women in Sports Media
• Bethany House
• Education for Independence
• Falls Church-McLean Children's Center
• HOBY Scholarship
• Horton's Kids
• Langley Residential
• McLean Project for the Arts (MPA)
• MPA artfest
• McLean Winterfest
• Meals on Wheels
• Reading is Fundamental of Northern Virginia
• SHARE, Inc.
• Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure

 

• Alden Theater - Children Performance Series
• Alden Theater - Sunay Performance Series
• Alzeihmer's Family Day Care Center
• Bethany House
• Books for Babies
• Claude Moore Colonial Farm
• Education for Independence
• Falls Church-McLean Children's Center
• HOBY Scholarship
• Langley Residential
• Local HS PTOs for Graduating HS Seniors
• McLean Community Players
• McLean Project for the Arts (MPA)
• MPA artfest
• McLean Youth Orchestra
• Reading Connection
• Reading is Fundamental of Northern Virginia
• Tysons Tunnel
• Alternative House/Culmore Teen Center

 

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