Friday, March 28, 2008

Up front

Army Eemergency Relief Campaign kicks off
Army Emergency Relief kicks off its 2008 fundraising campaign Friday in the Barden Education Center auditorium beginning at 1 p.m. Installation Commander Col. Brian Lauritzen will give the opening remarks. The campaign is an annual event that raises money to assist Soldiers with everyday expenses. The theme for this year’s campaign, which runs through May 15, is “Army Emergency Relief: Strength for Soldiers and their Families.” More information is available from Vonnie Blanken, 703 805-3130

Volunteers needed for force protection
Fort Belvoir conducts a Force Protection Full Scale Exercise May 29 and 30, to ensure the community is prepared to respond to the possibility of a pandemic flu and/or a terrorist attack. The Emergency Management Office needs people to volunteer to act as a casualty or fatality during the exercise. Interested people are asked to call James Johnston or Mike Estes, 703 805-2846/5205.

Fairfax community clean up
The Fairfax County Solid Waste Management Program has a community clean-up event Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at South County Center, 8350 Richmond Highway, Alexandria.

The event allows residents to dispose of their household hazardous waste, recycle their computers and electronics and shred personal documents.

Tennis workshop
The NOVA Family Enrichment Program hosts Lt. Col. Tony Crawford conducting tennis workshops at 4 p.m. Friday and April 19 at Wells Field House. Participants can be 5 and older and should bring a racquet if they have one.

Volunteers wanted to help cleanup along Potomac
The 20th annual Potomac River Watershed Cleanup is April 5 from 9 a.m. to noon. A cleanup site at Fort Belvoir is scheduled for Tompkins Basin. PRWC events are open to the public and are structured to include both a service project and environmental education.

Last April, more than 50 volunteers spent the morning removing trash from in and along the picturesque waterway, collecting 74 bags of trash, including 32 filled with items that could have been recycled; 29 tires and 236 balls.

Among the more interesting items found were a rusted chest freezer, two fishing poles, a gas tank to a boat, seven blue plastic 55-gallon drums and two orange roadside 55-gallon drums.

The Alice Ferguson Foundation coordinates the annual event in partnership with hundreds of regional organizations, government agencies and communities at more than 300 sites in the Potomac Watershed, including locations in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

In 2006, the cleanup removed more than 207 tons of trash from 306 sites in the watershed.

Since 1988, the cleanup effort has collectively removed more than 2.5 million pounds of trash from the Potomac Watershed through the help of 35,000 volunteers.
For more information, call Brice Bartley at 806-4142 or e-mail .