NOVA Catholic Community

One of our members, Meg Tuccillo, had an unusual but perfect 80th birthday celebration. Celebrants assembled 80+ birthday kits to be used by the food bank in Arlington, Arlington Food Assistance Center(AFAC). Each kit had cake mix, frosting, candles, napkins, banner, card, recipe, can of sprite (works in place of eggs).

Congratulations to NoVA RAFT and Fresh Start for a fantastic Back to School Event this weekend.

Thanks to our awesome volunteers we distributed almost 600 backpacks full of school supplies to newly arrived Afghan refugee youth! Today’s event was incredible and made possible by a partnership between , , , , , , , .inc , .alexandriava ! Great work everyone!!!

This Washington Post article is about a young woman who was a part of the event that a couple NOVA members attended- and part of NoVA RAFT(Resettling Afghan Families Together). Our NOVA Catholic Community has helped with money, tutors and offering and moving furniture in support of our new Afghan neighbors. Zahra, an Afghan immigrant herself, gave her time and wisdom to those students newly arrived. .. THANKS TO NOVA Catholic Community FOR ALL THE HELP YOU HAVE PROVIDED especially tutors Eric Carroll and Carolyn Miller. We received a certificate of gratitude for our continued support

For this student, helping Afghan peers succeed fulfills another dream Zahra Rahimi, an Alexandria City High graduate whose family fled Afghanistan in 2019, helped start a club for Afghan students and a community tutoring program for peers learning English among other accomplishments.