Marybeth Connelly

Why do you live in, work in, or visit  Falls Church? There are hundreds of answers to this question that boil down to one answer – community.

The community spirit is strong, and together we can do even more. Although Falls Church has the reputation as one of the most expensive places to live, our community includes people of all income levels. The fabric of our community is stronger because of our unique strengths, vision, generosity, needs, expertise, talent, experiences.

For the past 10 years, Falls Church City Public Schools (FCCPS) food services team has been providing fresh food to school families. The Federal Free and Reduced Priced Meals program (FRM) helps public schools provide breakfast and lunch during school days. The FCCPS weekend backpack program filled in the gap for students on weekends and holidays.

When this started, about 30 families were served. This number has grown to 100, and because of uncertainties in the job market along with cuts to SNAP and other food programs, more of our neighbors will need help in the future. With this level of need, it became unsustainable for the schools to keep running this program alone. 

The schools’ call to the community was ”Can you help?”

The response was “We will help. Tell us what you need.” 

A group of pastors, along with the people in your neighborhood who work every day to help kids and families – social workers, family liaisons, outreach and engagement specialists, food pantry volunteers, non-profit leaders –  got together to talk about how to jointly address food insecurity. All of these leaders and organizations were already doing something, and by joining forces, we can increase the impact and help more of our neighbors.

Together we are launching a new program with a vintage name – “Better Together.” You may remember the pandemic-era “Falls Church” t-shirts. It’s coming back because it’s a great way to signify how the people in this community can come together to help everyone get the food they need to thrive.

If you need help, and don’t know where to turn, there’s a new page on the FCCPS website with information about food, housing and emergency resources that anyone can access. fccps.org/o/fccps/page/student-family-food-support  You can also go to the City of Falls Church’s  page https://fallschurchva.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1462 

If you want to help, here are four things you can do listed on the Falls Church Education Foundation’s webpage https://www.fcedf.org/falls-church-better-together.html 

1. Donate funds to the Falls Church Education Foundation (FCEF) Family Assistance Fund. FCEF spent $60,000 so far to provide gift cards in November and December to 280 families. Anything you donate to this fund will go to this direct support program, with no overhead.

2. Donate food or funds or volunteer at the Falls Church Community Service Council,  which operates the food pantry at Knox Presbyterian Church. You could even run a neighborhood food drive and bring food to this pantry. https://fcswecare.org/ 

3. Volunteer to Adopt-a- Family  This is new, and will be supported by Church communities and other groups. It will launch in January. Each Church has committed to participating and many hands are needed: shoppers, packers, and delivery teams to provide monthly groceries to the families. This can be a group from your Church, your neighborhood, your scout troop, your team. Sign up through your church or volunteer your group at this link. https://forms.gle/t3B7gHxc1uzdBtMy6 

4. Buy a brand new Better Together t-shirt or sweatshirt. Funds will go to the FCEF Family Assistance Fund, and by wearing it you can help promote the program. https://www.bonfire.com/store/fallschurch/?srsltid=AfmBOooZguIVPpQa8nA1E0pgXJwuaKIe-KsQqlkwETau14uG2wbtps9Q 

Thank you to the Churches and groups involved in this campaign so far. We’d love to include your group on the list!

• City of Falls Church
• Falls Church City Public Schools
• Christ Crossman United Methodist Church
• Columbia Baptist Church
• Dulin United Methodist Church
• Falls Church Community Service Council
• Falls Church Education Foundation
• The Falls Church Episcopal
• Falls Church Presbyterian Church
• Food for Others
• Galloway United Methodist Church
• St. James Catholic Church

This is just the beginning, and there will be many more opportunities for everyone to get involved. If you have ideas about how to make this even better, please reach out to me at connellym@fccps.org. 

Marybeth Connelly is the FCCPS Director of Strategic Planning & Community Engagement and was recently elected to her fourth term as a member of the Falls Church City Council