Kelly Grant made it happen.
On Tuesday, Grant, the chief operating officer of the ALX Community coworking office in Old Town, received Volunteer Alexandria‘s business philanthropist of the year award.
Last year, after five months of an exhausting pandemic, Grant struck oil after launching the Alexandria Drive-In. The effort raised more than $100,000, with more than 12,000 people safely seeing movies on the big screen again. Proceeds from the films went to ACT for Alexandria, the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria and Athena Rapid Response.
“It’s incredibly moving to watch the power of community make lasting impacts in our city,” Grant said. “Keep an eye out for ALX Community’s future community initiatives, as we continue to serve and support the wonderful people, small businesses, and communities that make Alexandria the place we love and call home.”
The Drive-In has since gone into its second season.
Volunteer Alexandria presented the following awards:
The Joan White Volunteer Service Award
- Cynthia Chin – Mentor and Creative Director volunteer with Space of her Own. Cynthia has used her creativity and passion to empower and inspire girls and her experience as an Asian-American woman to spread a message of acceptance; from mentor to board member, co-program manager, and creative director, her volunteer service has been instrumental in enhancing and expanding youth programs in Alexandria
- Phyllis and Anthony Johnson – Volunteers for the West End Food pantry. Both volunteers replaced senior volunteers during COVID and worked every Monday night so the pantry can stay open during the pandemic and hungry families could be fed
- John Perlman – Volunteers for the food program and delivers groceries and serves on the Early Childhood committee for ALIVE!
- Charlotte Martinsson – Serves on ALIVE!’s executive board, volunteers for several programs – Food, Family Assistance, and for the Quarantine Food Program.
Emergency Preparedness Volunteer Service Award
- Bridget Donohue – Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) volunteer for the Alexandria Health Department; answered Information Line Call Center
- Paul Mazzuca – Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) for the Alexandria Health Department
Above & Beyond Recognition During a Time of COVID Award
- Allen Brooks, The Garden and Building Momentum – Co-founder of the drive-in movies, which allowed families to enjoy movies and agencies to receive unrestricted money
- Holly Batal – Volunteered for Safehouse and hotline for the Alexandria Domestic Violence Program. Holly is passionate, committed, and driven about assisting victims experiencing violence
- Kobi Carter – Teacher, tutor, translator, interpreter, registration assistant, and Zoom coach for the Literacy Council of NoVa
- Elyse Demaray – Writer and researcher for grants and the newsletter that help tell the story for Community Lodgings
- Haywon Kim – Volunteered with Learn & PlayGroup as co-facilitator for the group of children with the Center for Alexandria’s Children
- Mike Mixon – RSVP Northern Virginia volunteer who works with the American Red Cross to assist with disasters
- Maria Sanchez-Carlo – Volunteered with the Groceries to Go and Friendly Visitor program with Senior Services of Alexandria
- Kenneth Tieu – Mentor for high school students with the Dream Project
- Mike Zito – Mentor for high school students
Recent Stories
A look at the smallest and largest homes sold in Alexandria last month, March 2024.
Alexandria Civil Rights leader Ira Robinson, the first Black man elected to the City Council after Reconstruction, died last Friday at his home in Temecula, California. Robinson was 85 years…
Here’s a roundup of all the events, live music, and entertainment happening around Alexandria this weekend; enjoy! Are you organizing an event? Submit events to ALXnow. Friday, April 26 Things…
Port City’s Optimal Wit, its most iconic beer, took home the gold medal at the World Beer Cup. The World Beer Cup is an international beer competition hosted by the…
For many remote workers, a messy home is distracting.
You’re getting pulled into meetings, and your unread emails keep ticking up. But you can’t focus because pet hair tumbleweeds keep floating across the floor, your desk has a fine layer of dust and you keep your video off in meetings so no one sees the chaos behind you.
It’s no secret a dirty home is distracting and even adds stress to your life. And who has the energy to clean after work? That’s why it’s smart to enlist the help of professionals, like Well-Paid Maids.
Monarch Montessori School is now enrolling infants, toddlers and three year-olds for its full-time Montessori program. We offer a seamless enrollment process which involves submitting an application for review, paying the enrollment fee and submitting the remaining enrollment materials before your proposed start date.
At Monarch Montessori School, we aim to provide an authentic Montessori learning experience. At our Alexandria location, we currently have 8 openings in our Primary classroom (ages 3-6), and 6 openings in our Toddler classroom. Additionally, there are 3 infant openings at this time.
Our first floor space is an open concept. Infants and toddlers share the same large classroom. Children ages 3-6 are in two classrooms on our second floor. Each classroom has one lead and assistant guide. We offer a year-round program, with intermittent breaks for Spring Break and Winter Break.
Scholarship Fund of Alexandria Annual Gala & Auction
Do good while having a good time at the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria’s 38th Annual Gala and Auction at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center. The fun begins with a 2-hour open bar reception while mingling with 499 other Alexandrians who
