Impact Stories

Maury Schoolyard Initiative was a specific, focused PTA effort led by parents of Maury students. For years, the playground had deteriorated to an unusable state. The parents mobilized, developed a world class plan with Gensler, and targeted Spring2ACTion for a major fundraising push led by Amy Rutherford. The team masterfully engaged, entertained, and combined our grassroots base of parent, neighbor, grandparents, friends and neighbors with a highly strategic fundraising effort. With Free Agent Fundraisers and ongoing appeals, we engaged 859 donors, raising more than $75,000! This put our public private partnership on the course for success.

Lee Fendall House Museum

Two years ago, the Lee-Fendall House Museum faced a profound threat. The house's original foundation was badly degraded, the result of time, moisture, and the constant rumble of traffic on adjacent Washington Street. It was clear that it wouldn't hold on much longer, placing at risk the original 1785 structure and its many-layered history.

Through the generous support of Spring2ACTion donors over two consecutive years, we were able to secure the funds to work with a mason with experience in historic craftsmanship to stabilize, repair, and restore the full foundation. It's because of Spring2ACTion that we've ensured Lee-Fendall House will still be standing for generations into the future.

PK Move

PK Move is small, fairly young parkour nonprofit, but thanks to the support of our community and Spring2ACTion, we have been able to do BIG things including offer free-to-the-public parkour lessons for all ages and abilities especially the underserved, develop PK Silver, an innovative parkour-based fitness and falls prevention program for older adults, and become the subject of the world’s first dual, blind study on parkour in the entire world. Spring2ACTion helps get our story out to many more people who many not be aware of our work and its importance in the community.

Animal Welfare League of Alexandria

Spring2ACTion is an amazing way to connect with our community and spread the word about how anyone can improve the life of an animal in need. Donations from Spring2ACTion last year paid for healthy meals, bedding and toys, veterinary care, behavioral support and so much more. When you donate to Spring2ACTion, you are truly making a difference right here in Alexandria, and for animals across the city!

The Child & Family Network Centers

Because of Spring2ACTion, we were able to prepare 138 low-income children for success in kindergarten and in life. Children who would otherwise fall through the cracks and enter elementary school with a huge achievement gap. For children andfamilies hovering just above the poverty level, a high-quality, free early education in Alexandria is often inaccessible. That’s why Spring2ACTion is so important to the community. Because of Spring2ACTion, CFNC is able to continue providing a bilingual, high-quality early education and wraparound health and family services to the kids in our community who need it the most. Kids just like Luis.

Luis is the type of boy who puts a smile on your face. His excitement when he learns something new is contagious. Luis’ parents don’t speak any English at home, and when he came to CFNC, Luis spoke only Spanish. One day in April, Luis’ Family Support Worker burst into the office and announced that Luis scored a 29/30 on his English Language Learning assessment for Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) – one of the highest scores you can get! Without access to a high-quality, free preschool education, Luis would likely have struggled to keep up in kindergarten, and likely for years to come. Spring2ACTion is helping children just like Luis realize their potential.

Friends of Guest House

Because of Spring2ACTion…in 2017 Friends of Guest House was able to replace the siding and make other structural repairs to our nearly 100-year-old house, which is home to our Residential program. “Alexandria truly is an extraordinary city,” said Executive Director Kari Galloway, “and we are so grateful to be a part of this community and part of Spring2ACTion, Alexandria's Giving Day!"

We completed siding repairs and replacements. The House, an “iconic” yellow for so many years, is now a cool and comforting gray. Porch repairs were also completed.

Casa Chirilagua

As Casa Chirilagua's new Executive Director, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Spring2ACTion. When Casa Chirilagua participated in Spring2ACTion back in 2012, the goal was to raise funds to expand their staff in order to support the growth of the organization. At the time I was volunteering with Casa Chirilagua students and was hoping for an employment opportunity with Casa, however the funds just weren't there. Thanks to Spring2ACTion, many individuals gave and Casa Chirilagua raised enough money to hire their first-ever Teens Club Director: me. This helped Casa expand their reach to middle school students and offer a much needed after-school middle school program for the youth of Chirilagua, a predominantly Central-American community in Arlandria. Since that time I've held other positions within Casa Chirilagua from Mentoring Director to my newest role as Executive Director. I am grateful for important events like Spring2ACTion which help connect supporters to incredible organizations in the city of Alexandria and impact the lives of city residents, mine included.

Alexandria Soccer Association

Two years ago, as part of our Access4All Project, ASA launched a free After School Soccer League in partnership with ACPS. The goal was to bring soccer to kids at Title 1 schools. After a successful pilot season, in 2019 ASA set a goal to expand the program by supporting more kids, adding additional coaches, enhancing the curriculum and introducing a Saturday game component at a walkable location (in addition to the after school practice). On Spring2Action 2019, 745 donors came together to raise over $50,000! This allowed ASA to expand the league to serve 424 kids from six Title 1 elementary schools. The addition of a game on Saturday at several locations allowed families to come out and cheer on their kids in a fun festival environment. Listen to this podcast episode to hear how the kids felt about this! The league introduction and expansion would not be possible without the community of donors who believe in providing access to safe and active after-school activities. All contributions from Spring2Action 2020 will fuel initiatives in our nationally recognized Access4All project! Read more about the project here.

Local Motion Project

Local Motion Project (LMP), an Alexandria dance organization, would not be here today without the many supporters who rallied around the organization during Spring2ACTion 2019, and the support of ACT for Alexandria. A young organization committed to bringing people together through meaningful dance and movement experiences, LMP was suddenly faced with the possibility of losing their space, and ultimately ceasing to exist, in early 2019. Through the amazing dedication of Free Agent Fundraisers including students, parents, faculty, and board members, combined with LMP’s first ever business sponsors (Fairlington Dental, Heather Carlson with Re/MAX, Homes of Alexandria, and The Jen Walker Team) and day-of matches (Fibre Space, Bradham Automotive, and Breathe Pilates) LMP went on to surpass their S2A goal of $45,000 and keep their home in Alexandria.
Because of these efforts, LMP has lowered prices for adult classes at the Local Motion Movement Arts Center (LoMAC), awarded its first need-based dance scholarship, grown their dance integration residency program with Alexandria City Public Schools, hired dancers for their first-ever dance ensemble production in Alexandria, started a youth ensemble, provided community dance and movement workshops, and applied for and received a racial equity grant from ACT for Alexandria to center racial equity in dance as they move into the future. Spring2ACTion 2019 proved that Alexandrians value the presence of dance in their community, and LMP is honored to be moving forward with such support.