budget-size: Less than $1M

Read Early and Daily (READ)

EIN: 82-3345797

Mission Statement

Ensuring babies and young children have new, quality, culturally relevant books of their own that are mirrors and windows into their everyday lives and communities

Program Summary

FACT: All babies are born with the same number of neurons…BILLIONS. 

FACT: Neurons are pretty much useless unless they make a connection (aka synapse).  

FACT: Connections are made through talking, singing, cuddling, and most importantly, READING books with your baby. 

Every time a book is read to a baby, a connection is made in their brain, that is, a neuron is activated (*lit up*). Isn’t that amazing?! It’s that simple.

BUT without books in the home, reading to babies and young children every day is nearly impossible. 

READ was created to address reading inequities faced by Arlington’s youngest and most economically vulnerable children. We meet expectant, uninsured families at their prenatal appointments and start them off with a baby book bag filled with five board books plus tips for reading. When the baby is born, they are automatically enrolled in our cornerstone program READ With Me and receive a texted order form for a new FREE, quality, culturally relevant book each month for their baby’s first year. In addition, they receive monthly reading texts and tips.

Impact Statement

In 2025, over 500 babies and toddlers from economically vulnerable families participated in our cornerstone program READ With Me, allowing their families to choose and receive a new, quality, age-appropriate, culturally relevant book every month. Our 2024 parent survey indicated:

One family’s story

Lucas, age 33 months, has received 38 books from READ: five prenatally and monthly books via READ With Me. READ books have supported Lucas’ early brain development and helped him build key skills. He now:

What ways can the public get involved?

Email clairemorris@readearlyanddaily.org for more information and to sign up to volunteer.

How are charitable dollars spent? Where does my donation go?

Our model is simple. READ gets free, quality, culturally relevant books to vulnerable babies when they need them the most. You can choose to help one baby or many babies.

When you support READ, YOU are enhancing the literacy and language experiences of economically vulnerable babies and toddlers at their most vital brain development by providing books for them to keep and for parents to read aloud. These early simple acts of reading together sets a baby on the path to future academic success and self-sufficiency. 

Information provided March 2026

Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail

EIN: 83-4129792

Mission Statement

The Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail supports the National Park Service in keeping the trail safe and welcoming for all users through education, trail maintenance, and community events.

Program Summary

The Mount Vernon Trail is an 18-mile long shared use path that travels along the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Northern Virginia between Rosslyn and George Washington’s home at Mount Vernon. The Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail (FoMVT) was formed in 2018 and supports the National Park Service in keeping the trail safe and welcoming for all users through education, trail maintenance, and community events.

The Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail hold regular volunteering activities for the public. All are welcome to attend, no experience necessary, and kid-friendly.

Impact Statement

FoMVT believes that the Mount Vernon Trail and the George Washington Memorial Parkway should be enjoyed by everyone and that everyone should be given the opportunity to be a steward of the park. Volunteers have ranged in age from 2 to 85 years old. Weekly volunteer events do not have a participant cap and have been as large as 160 participants. Since 2018, the FoMVT have hosted over 300 volunteer events with over 7,000 volunteers giving back to the trail.

What ways can the public get involved?

We host volunteer events every Saturday on the trail. You can see a list of upcoming events on our website at https://mountvernontrail.org/events/

We also host resource appreciation events such as an annual Tulip Walk/Bike Ride, Bat and Firefly Walk, Beaver Moon Walk, and various art classes. 

How are charitable dollars spent? Where does my donation go?

The largest overhead cost of the organization is paying for the storage of tools and equipment. We also use donations to purchase new tools, signs, fencing, maintenance of trail fixing equipment, and cold patch to fill potholes. 

Information provided March 2026

Food for Neighbors

EIN: 81-3736063

Mission Statement

Food For Neighbors is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with a mission to end child hunger in Northern Virginia. Focusing on the otherwise underserved older students, FFN tackles teen food insecurity by raising awareness, mobilizing communities, and partnering with local secondary schools to connect supplemental food, toiletries, and grocery store gift cards with students in need.

Program Summary

Food For Neighbors tackles teen food insecurity through two complementary programs–the Red Bag Program and the Grocery Gift Card Program. Arlington County Public Schools are currently participating in the Red Bag Program. The Program provides shelving/storage units for schools to establish in-house pantries and then mobilizes community members to fill the pantries. Five times a year, Red Bag donors use a specific grocery list to shop for toiletries and shelf-stable, single-serve foods that provide nutrition and variety, so all students may enjoy the food regardless of their access to special ingredients or large appliances.

The donors then fill their bags with their purchases and set the bags on their doorsteps. Volunteers, organized by neighborhoods, collect the donations and bring them to the closest operational area for sorting and then delivery to nearby partnering schools. At the schools, social workers, counselors, and/or parent liaisons identify students in need and connect them with the resources.

As of March 2025, Food For Neighbors is partnering with 53 schools to help approximately 8,700 students (unduplicated) annually, and many of these students receive support on a weekly basis. Six of these school are Arlington County Public Schools–Arlington Career Center, Arlington Community High School, Gunston Middle School, Kenmore Middle School, Wakefield High School, and Dorothy Hamm Middle School.

Impact Statement

School staff members have provided survey feedback and numerous, positive testimonials about the impact the added nutrition is making. Among other things, they believe the food helps many students attend school more regularly, focus on their schoolwork, and earn better grades. The staff members also appreciate that the food enables them to build relationships, where they can connect with students and identify other needs they may have. This gives students the chance to reach their full potential, which lifts up the students, their families, and the community as a whole.

What ways can the public get involved?

Our Red Bag food and toiletry donors and volunteers are the cornerstone of our Red Bag Program. 

Red Bag Food and Toiletry Donor: Visit https://www.foodforneighbors.org/red-bag-program/ to learn more about becoming a Red Bag food and toiletry donor and sign up to participate up to five times a year. You’ll receive a Red Bag with our grocery list and collection dates, a text message asking if you’re able to participate in the upcoming collection, and reminders when it’s time to shop and set your donations on your doorstep for collection. It’s that easy, and you’ll be making a big impact on students near you!

Red Bag Event Volunteer: Five times a year in Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun counties, we engage over 900 community members to collect, sort, and deliver over 25,000 pounds of Red Bag food and toiletry donations to our partnering schools in just one morning! We organize this massive effort by operational areas. One of these operational areas is in Arlington. To express interest in volunteering, visit https://www.foodforneighbors.org/get-involved/volunteer/. Once you’ve registered, you will receive a SignUpGenius before each of our Red Bag Events, and you may sign up to participate in any you choose.

Business Support: In addition to our Red Bag donors and volunteers, we greatly appreciate the many partnering businesses that make our work possible. Businesses and other organizations interested in team-building service opportunities or formal Food For Neighbors partnership, should contact Jaye L Van Soest, Director of Development, at jaye@foodforneighbors.org. To see our partners and learn more about partnership recognition, visit our website’s partner page at https://www.foodforneighbors.org/partners/.

Other Opportunities: To see our full range of opportunities, please visit our website’s “Get Involved” page at https://www.foodforneighbors.org/get-involved/. 

How are charitable dollars spent? Where does my donation go?

Your generous financial gifts help us tackle teen food insecurity in our currently partnering schools and to say “yes” to new schools requesting support for their students. 

Information provided March 2026

Shirlington Employment and Education Center (SEEC)

EIN: 54-2036192

Mission Statement

SEEC’s mission is to raise the standard of low-wage, immigrant day laborers in Arlington County so that Day Laborers and other immigrant workers can participate in dignified work, in safe working conditions, and earn fair wages. We provide an opportunity for Day Laborer to find safe work at a fair wage and to obtain skills that improve their employability and we work to improve the overall conditions of day Laborers in Arlington. 

Program Summary

SEEC provides services to Day Laborers – workers who provide a critical temporary labor force for local construction, food, janitorial, moving support and landscaping businesses, without whom these businesses could not survive. Arlington’s Day Laborers are majority Latino (over 95%) recently immigrated men, over 95%, who are unable to obtain or maintain permanent part-or full-time employment.

The majority of SEEC’s clients are from Zip Codes 22204 and 22206; over 70% are from 22204. As recent lone immigrants, most have little or no familial support in the area and lack English language skills, which presents a barrier to employment. These Laborers are extremely low- to no income workers who present with immediate critical needs for jobs, food, housing, emergency funds, and medical care. In FY 2024, 80% fit the criteria for homelessness; 90%

reported food insecurity; and approximately one third required referral to the Arlington Free Clinic ( AFC). In a society that often fears single Latinos and men of color congregating in public places and who resemble – or are – homeless and unemployed, historically marginalized, Day Laborers face a significant amount of institutional, systemic, and individual discrimination, are often isolated, and require protection from the illegal labor practices and exploitation encountered on job sites.

Impact Statement

SEEC provided vital services to the immigrant community that included:

What ways can the public get involved?

We invite volunteers who can tutor English to our clients.

We need volunteers to provide transportation to take day laborers to local jobs.

We invite volunteers to provide bag lunches for the day labores.

How are charitable dollars spent? Where does my donation go?

Over 95% of the charitable donations go to pay for training and support for the day laborers. This includes paying for temporary rent, bus transportation, for the cell phones that are essential to communicating with employers, prescription drugs and meals for those who can’t find work and are going hungry.

Information provided March 2026

Jennifer Bush-Lawson Foundation

EIN: 47-1374686

Mission Statement

The Jennifer Bush-Lawson Foundation serves economically vulnerable mothers and babies by increasing access to much-needed health care support, conducting research to affect systemic change, and ensuring they have the supplies needed to bring baby home. In honor of Jennifer Lawson, a loving mother of three who tragically lost her life in 2014, we aim to honor her dedication, generosity, and kind heart by fulfilling the vision that she crafted for every mother and baby in need.

Program Summary

We have 3 primary initiatives to accomplish our mission. The first is to ensure families have everything they need to bring baby home safely – from cribs to car seats. The second is to increase access to quality care by funding innovative pilots – such as tele-health – that enable these families to access care that meets their daily needs. The third is to raise awareness of the issues facing this community through thought leader events and social media promotion. 

Impact Statement

Throughout our 9-year history we have served more than 3,000 families, provided more than 350 basics materials, hosted 10 awareness campaigns, and funded more than $250,000 to support Including projects focused on infant care, tele-health, & maternal mental health. In addition to these mission related activities, we strive to be nimble in an ever-changing environment to help these families in other important ways. For example, in 2020 we launched a program to put kitchen staff back to work while delivering home cooked meals to new mothers whose family were affected by the economic shutdowns. 

What ways can the public get involved?

We have two ways of getting involved with the Jennifer Bush-Lawson Foundation. Volunteer throughout the year by helping us collect gently used baby supplies such as car seats, strollers, and portable cribs. In addition, our signature fundraising event, the 5K and Family Fun day is always in need of volunteers. This event is held the Saturday before Thanksgiving at the Knights of Columbus.

How are charitable dollars spent? Where does my donation go?

The Jennifer Bush-Lawson Foundation is giving economically vulnerable mothers and babies renewed hope by increasing access to much-needed health care support, conducting research to affect systemic change, and ensuring they have the supplies needed to bring baby home. Your support changes lives. 

$25 helps provide a breastfeeding starter pack
$50 helps provide a portable crib
$100 helps provide a car seat

Information provided March 2025

Challenging Racism

EIN: 81-2305195

Mission Statement

To empower and inspire people to disrupt racism one compassionate conversation at a time.

Program Summary

Challenging Racism (CR) is an Arlington-based 501(c)3 and our mission is to empower and inspire people to disrupt racism one compassionate conversation at a time. For more than 20 years, we have trained organizations and individuals using professionally designed and facilitated programs to build awareness and skills to courageously talk about race and equity. We offer introductory programs, topic-specific workshops, book/podcast/movie discussions, and facilitator training.  We also provide DEIBA (diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and accessibility) advisory services for organizations to effectively disrupt all “-isms” in the workplace.

Our approach is based on conversations and storytelling, rooted in facts and local history, to create a shared experience that dispels dangerous myths and assumptions. We invest the time and self-reflection needed to build deep knowledge, skills, and practice to normalize conversations on race and othering, and to hold the difficult conversations necessary to advance systems-level change. 

We serve diverse participants from a wide range of local partners including government, schools, non-profits, faith groups, theatre companies, and the private sector.  We build the capacity of the organizations we engage with so that they can assess and lead their own social and racial equity programs, and our alumni go on to act as change agents in the community.

Challenging Racism is a ”small but mighty” non-profit organization, dedicated to advancing intersectional anti-biased and anti-racist work in our diverse but segregated communities across Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV).  We are Black-led, staffed majority by women, and benefit from the guidance and wisdom of our talented and diverse Board.

Impact Statement

We center race because racial inequities exist in every system: health, education, criminal justice, employment, and more. We center intersectionality because racial disparities persist across all identities: gender, sexuality, education, ability, age, socioeconomic, citizenship, and more. 

Most Americans lack racial literacy and conversational practice to effectively impact these inequities and disparities. Our workshops move participants from a misconception that discrimination, bias, and racism is simply the work of “bad individuals” to an understanding that racism is systemic. Moreover, it is a system of advantage that all of us participate in whether we intend to or not, and we can work to eliminate their consequences by working for equity.

Our participant surveys reveal behavior change in our participants after they learn about the root causes of inequities and types of bias. Our participants report a greater likelihood of recognizing and interrupting harmful microaggressions which results in a safer, more inclusive community for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) populations. In the workplace, we have observed organizations adopt an equity lens necessary to identify and challenge discriminatory practices, attract increased staff diversity, and successfully foster authentic relationships with BIPOC colleagues and beneficiaries.  These impacts are measurable and necessary for systems-level change.

What ways can the public get involved?

Challenging Racism enthusiastically welcomes the public to join our programs as participants or serve as hosts of a Challenging Racism program in your community or workplace. Every program we facilitate helps build awareness and community power where advocacy and action for racial and economic justice are most needed today.

We also welcome volunteers to join us as we design and implement a range of outreach activities to support racial equity and anti-racism. Our volunteers help plan events, build partnerships, outreach via social media, apply for grants, raise funds, and design programs for organizations needing our conversations. All skills are needed and volunteers can choose to help with discrete activities or lead on racial equity initiatives. Interested volunteers can fill out our Volunteer Form on our website or contact us for more information at info@challengingracism.org.

How are charitable dollars spent? Where does my donation go?

Interest in our racial equity and DEIBA workshops has never been stronger. However, members of our larger community are left out because of tuition costs, which are required to sustain our organization, pay our professionally-trained racial equity facilitators, and fund the highest quality curriculum writing. 

Contributions make our conversations and workshops more available to every member of our community and more affordable to passionate, committed, and diverse participants.  Your donation enables local leaders and community members from diverse backgrounds to strengthen their facilitation and advocacy skills for racial equity and to go on to teach others and disrupt and dismantle systemic racism across our community.

Information provided March 2025

Meals on Wheels of Arlington

EIN: 52-1344727

Mission Statement

At Meals on Wheels Arlington, our mission is to nourish and empower homebound individuals in Arlington by providing wholesome, prepared meals with compassion and care. We believe that everyone deserves access to nutritious food and the comfort of connection. Through our dedicated volunteers and community partnerships, we strive to enhance the well-being and dignity of those we serve, fostering a sense of belonging and support for all. Together, we are creating a healthier, more inclusive community where no one faces hunger alone.

Program Summary

Potential clients are referred to the Arlington County Agency on Aging for eligibility intake. For accepted clients, meals are prepared by a commercial caterer and delivered to our staging area at First Presbyterian Church on Vermont Avenue in the Ballston neighborhood. Volunteer drivers pick up the meals and deliver them to homebound residents in North and South Arlington. Most clients receive 10 meals delivered once a week, along with beverages. A small group who cannot accommodate a bulk delivery receive two meals, five days a week, plus beverages. We currently serve about 180 clients each week. First Presbyterian Church allows us to use their facility for staging and storage, but we do not have a permanent physical address.

Impact Statement

In 2024, volunteers from our 139 person roster devoted 7000 hours delivering 93,000 meals to 290 individual client. Meals are delivered either weekly or daily, depending on need. Meals on Wheels Arlington addresses food insecurity for Arlington residents who are over 60 and unable to manage food preparation on their own.  Meals on Wheels Arlington also serves Arlington residents under age 60, who, because of their age cannot be funded through the Arlington Agency on Aging.  MOW uses its own funds to support these individuals.  These are Arlington residents who are homebound and unable to provide food for themselves. These are Arlington residents who are homebound and unable to provide food for themselves who would otherwise fall through the cracks of Arlington’s excellent programs.


An added benefit to our program is that because MOW drivers have regular contact with our clients, they can be our eyes on the ground.  In the event they see something that would affect a client’s health or safety, MOW will communicate these concerns to Arlington County, for follow up by a social worker.

What ways can the public get involved?

Of course, members of the public are welcome to donate to our organization with funds as well as volunteering.   Members of the public can help us out by volunteering to drive meals to our clients or load the driver’s vehicles.  

Volunteer drivers are the engines that move us!  In a month, we deliver over 7,700 meals through approximately 35 routes averaging 5-8 clients per route.  The majority of our delivery activity occurs on Wednesdays.  We do not deliver evenings or weekends. We ask our drivers to be available at least once a month.  The time commitment to drive a route is about 2.5 hours and requires use of the driver’s own vehicle.

How are charitable dollars spent? Where does my donation go?

As a volunteer-driven organization with an overhead rate of less than 1%, donations directly fund mission-related needs. Most of our donation dollars are directed toward funding meals for homebound clients who do not meet Arlington County’s age requirement of 60 and who cannot afford to pay for meals on their own. $62 funds meals for a week for a homebound Arlington resident.  Donations allow us to add clients to our roles.

Though we are affiliated with Meals on Wheels America, we receive no funding from the national organization.  Meals on Wheels Arlington is fully locally funded and managed.

Information provided March 2025

Restorative Arlington

EIN: 87-3950513

Mission Statement

We create connection, belonging, and safety for all community members. We:

Program Summary

The Heart of Safety Restorative Justice Conferencing Program (HOS) is our primary programmatic offering. Through HOS, we partner with community members to respond to wrongdoing using a people-centered and trauma-responsive approach. The HOS conferencing process enables everyone affected by an incident of harm to understand what happened and why, and to collaboratively determine a path forward. Our HOS facilitators support people who have been harmed as they exercise their voice and determine how best to meet their needs for healing and repair. Likewise, facilitators support people who have been responsible for harm in taking meaningful accountability. HOS takes cases by referral from court system partners, such as the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney, and community members. Court referrals to HOS are designed to serve as a diversion for youth and transition-age adults, with a focus on ending criminalization of Black, Indigenous and other people of color.

In collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders, including victim services providers, Restorative Arlington is honored to partner in creating the Restorative Pathways Restorative Justice Program. Over the next two years, this partnership will design a Restorative Justice Option for victims/survivors of intimate partner violence, dating violence, sexual harm, and gender-based violence. Instead of relying on legal system referrals, Restorative Pathways will be directly accessible to community members and integrated into the services provided by our partner organizations. Restorative Pathways will also accept referrals from other local organizations through a community referral process. Restorative Pathways is funded by a pilot program from the US Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women. 

We also offer opportunities to learn about and experience restorative justice practices that increase belonging, share experiences, and engage on difficult topics with dignity, compassion and courage. These include community building circles, basic circle training in partnership with George Mason’s Carter School, and resources and events shared in our newsletter.

Impact Statement

Our Heart of Safety Restorative Justice Conferencing Program makes justice, healing, and safety accessible for people and communities who want to choose a supportive, culturally sensitive option to address harm outside of the current court system. The restorative justice conferencing process centers the needs and voices of people who have been harmed and creates opportunities for repair and healing that the legal system simply cannot provide. The process also enables people who have been responsible for harm to understand the impact of their actions and to take responsibility for making amends in ways that honor the needs of the person(s) they harmed. We treat all participants as valued members of the community and have found that as the restorative conferencing process repairs individual relationships, its ripple effects extend to families and the community as a whole. Extensive research reflects what we have experienced: restorative justice conferencing leads to meaningful accountability, more victim satisfaction and greater reductions in recidivism than adversarial court processes.       

Evaluations of our community-building circles consistently show that participants experience a strong sense of connection, and that they feel deeply heard. Our circles have also provided safe spaces for brave conversations about issues such as racial justice.

What ways can the public get involved?

How are charitable dollars spent? Where does my donation go?

Your investment shows solidarity and support for our work and our community. Donations support access to justice and safety for community members who choose Restorative Justice Conferencing in lieu of traditional court prosecution, program innovation, and the systemic peace-building work required for a paradigm shift from punishment to healing. For example, $6,000 supports one Heart of Safety Restorative Justice Conferencing case.    

In alignment with our commitment to centering community voice, we only accept unrestricted donations. This ensures that we can be responsive to emerging needs of our community partners.

Information provided March 2026

Columbia Pike Partnership

EIN: 54-1374148

Mission Statement

Our mission is to foster a vibrant, safe, connected, and diverse Columbia Pike community. We exist to be the convening body representing the interests of all those who live, work and visit Columbia Pike. Our vision is of an authentic, exciting, and accessible Columbia Pike community where social, ethnic, and economic diversity is celebrated. We value inclusiveness, connectivity, heritage, and prosperity. We strive to make Columbia Pike a place for all people – one that people of all walks of life can enjoy and/or call home.

Program Summary

Impact Statement

All of our place making events are free to the community and family friendly, providing the opportunity for all of the Pike’s 40,000+ residents to gather and enjoy entertainment in an inclusive environment, and also attracts visitors to the corridor. Our business outreach touches any business on the Pike looking for resources and assistance navigating interactions with the County. Our farmers market brings fresh local food to the community, and was the first to support SNAP benefits in Arlington. Our weekly newsletter reaches over 9,000 recipients, keeping the community informed about events and programs in the corridor, sharing information for both residents and businesses. 

What ways can the public get involved?

Volunteer opportunities, donations to support programs and events.

How are charitable dollars spent? Where does my donation go?

Donations support all of our programs and events to keep those activities free to the public.

A close-up photo of a shade tent at a festival. The tent reads "columbia-pike.org" and has mini flag from around the world hanging from it.

Information provided April 2025