*By Serena Karam* After getting FacilitatingConnections up and running for what seems like months, it was finally time to find our first donor. However before that, we needed to make sure that we had a beneficiary in place ready to take our donations. As the beneficiary captain, I assigned my team to contact different places to see what they were willing to accept. Shortly after assignments were given, one of our teammates, Erin Kerns, gave us the great news that...Read More

*By Kendall Ladd* One of the first donors I reached out to was the Chick-Fil-A in Reston. I called and emailed them, but unfortunately, they were unable to donate to us because they were already working with other organizations. I knew that Chick-Fil-A was very active in donating and helping the community, so I decided to reach out to other local locations. I called and emailed the Sterling and Tyson’s Chick-Fil-A locations and they were both very interested in our...Read More

*By Andrea Karam* After many hours of researching donors, we finally reached out to Pio Pio Pollo whose response was extremely positive and very willing to help us out on our mission. After visiting the store and speaking to the manager, they offered to do everything they could to help us with finding food for people in need. Within the next few days, we were able to receive a generous donation of uncooked pasta and a large can of corn....Read More

*By Caden Ghannam* It was April 7th, 2020, a week after the mandatory lockdown was placed to effectively prevent the spread of COVID-19. The severity of this pandemic had really set in, and I became driven to help as many people suffering due to the shutdown of our economy as possible. I, then, contacted many non-profit organizations that were helping communities in our region during this pandemic. That’s where I came in contact with Carol Jeliazkov, Program Manager of Sevatruck...Read More