Earlier this year, the Virginia Service Foundation awarded 10 mini-grants to organizations across the Commonwealth to support projects and events for the annual 9/11 Day of Service. The resulting service that took place helped improve the lives and brighten the days of Virginians by engaging community members in meaningful service opportunities. Browse photos from these projects and events and keep reading to learn more about specific accomplishments...

2023 9/11 Day of Service Projects

Hanover Youth Service Council (Ashland): For their 9/11 Day of Service project, the Hanover Youth Service Council (HYSC) wrote 405 cards to career and volunteer Hanover Fire & EMS staff. The cards were then addressed, sorted by station, and paired with a goody basket full of snacks for all 17 stations and Hanover Fire Administration. HYSC members and their families delivered the cards and baskets to each of the stations. A total of 14 youth participated in this project, totaling more than 170.5 hours of service. Thank you!

Dan River Year AmeriCorps (Danville): Dan River Year AmeriCorps partnered with Averett University to complete two projects for the 9/11 Day of Service, 1) creating 48 bags with thank you cards, candy, stickers, and water bottles to say AmeriThanks to local School Resource Officers, and 2) in partnership with Averett University’s Center for Community Engagement and Career Competitiveness, creating 300 bags that contained keychains, candy, and thank you cards for Danville’s first responders, including the Danville Police Department and the Danville Life Saving Crew and Fire Department. From student volunteers and AmeriCorps members to staff, more than 130 people were involved in making these projects happen. Thank you!

Volunteer Alexandria (Alexandria): Volunteer Alexandria supported a joint program with Alexandria Public Libraries to collect emergency preparedness supplies as part of Emergency Preparedness Month. Then, they used their min-grant to supplement the donations with additional supplies, along with supplies donated by the City’s Office of Emergency Management, in order to create emergency preparedness kits to give out to seniors and low-income households in our community. A team of 7 volunteers assembled the kits, which included printed materials about preparedness, a face mask, an emergency blanket, a small flashlight, a refrigerator magnet with local emergency numbers and information, a small first aid kit, and a rain poncho. In total, they made 75 kits and will distribute these through senior centers and the libraries in the coming weeks. Thank you for keeping seniors safe and prepared!

Start 1 Spark (Henrico): Start 1 Spark took to Henrico’s own Deep Run Park on Sunday, September 10th to host the first Fuel for Fun Kickoff event. Along with the support of Thrivent Financial, 10 volunteers made 260 snack kits and personalized motivational messages. Thanks to the Virginia Service Foundation’s support, middle school student-athletes will have a healthy snack kit with a protein, fruit, and chip to fuel their fun on the field. It was an extremely successful event. Thank you so much to everyone who participated!

Kids Give Back (Annandale): Kids Give Back prepared 250 baskets for teachers who work at four different Title 1 schools in Northern Virginia. These baskets included lotion, coffee and tea, handmade crafts, notecards, school supplies, candy, healthy snacks, and more. Thank you to these volunteers for helping teachers know how much they are appreciated!

Veterans and Athletes United (Chesterfield): The Fallen Heroes Memorial is one of the programs the Veterans and Athletes United offers a traveling American flag memorial, designed from over 7,000 dog tags with all the names of fallen service members from the War on Terror. Since the completion in May of 2018, it has traveled to more than 60 locations nationwide and been viewed by over 1 million visitors. It provides an opportunity for all visitors to reflect, heal, and remember. With this mini-grant Veterans and Athletes United was able to continue to contribute to sharing this project and engaging their community in memorializing. Thank you!

King of Kings Lutheran Church and Preschool (Fairfax): With this mini-grant, King of Kings Lutheran Church was able to host a meal-packing event in conjunction with Rise Against Hunger. With community volunteers, they packed 10,000 meals that will be distributed to people in need around the world. These nutritious meals will help organizations bring relief, empower communities, nourish lives, and respond to emergencies. They also hosted a volunteer appreciation lunch as part of this work. Thank you!  

Village to Village (Harrisonburg): With this mini-grant, Village to Village was able to purchase additional supplies for refugee move-ins, including cleaning items, school supplies, and other items to help new arrivals feel more at home in their new community. Thank you for welcoming and supporting new Virginians at a time when they need community more than ever!

New Song United Methodist Church (Mechanicsville): New Song United Methodist Church hosted more than 210 volunteers who packaged over 61,000 meals that will go to feed 360,000 servings. Everyone agreed: This was a fantastic day of service and they can't wait to do it again next year! Thank you!

NEST4US (Ashburn): For their 9/11 Day of Service, NEST4US hosted a Hope in a Bag event that was a great success. More than 75 volunteers assembled over 5,000 food bags filled with applesauce, granola bars, pretzels, fruit snacks, peanut butter crackers, and notes of kindness to share through 42 homeless shelters and food banks in the Washington Metro area. Thank you for cultivating hope!

To learn about future mini-grant opportunities and upcoming Days of Service, click here to subscribe to the Volunteer Virginia newsletter.