PW Chamber and Allan Myers donate $40,000 to ACTS and SERVE for emergency assistance

Prince William Chamber of Commerce and contracting company Allan Myers announced their joint effort April 14 to contribute $40,000 to two area food banks, ACTS and SERVE, in response to the economic hardships caused by the COVID-19 virus.

“In this unprecedented time, with efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19 virus, many Prince William residents and businesses are experiencing significant economic hardships,” said Debbie Jones, President and CEO of the Prince William Chamber of Commerce in a news release “As the weeks go by, the strain becomes more difficult and as the need for basic necessities increases, the impacts on families and communities will be significant,” she said.

The Chamber teamed with Allan Myers, an employer of Prince William residents and contractor in the County for 20+ years, to raise funds in support of the food programs of Action in Community Through Services (ACTS) and Northern Virginia Family Service’s (NVFS) SERVE Campus.

Ross Snare, Director of Chamber Government Relations, commented, “The genesis for our effort to raise these funds was the leadership and action of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors who recently contributed to these non-profits to help Prince William families with an important basic need – food.”

Curtis Hall, a Vice President and General Manager for Allan Myers, stated, “We are very pleased to partner with the Chamber to raise the resources to help meet this critical need. This effort is consistent with Allan Myers’ core commitment to providing a helping hand to our local communities.”

Chamber President Jones said, “We are grateful to Chamber member Allan Myers for their leadership and good corporate citizenship, especially at this critical time.”  Jones continued, “We also deeply appreciate the generosity of Chamber members Amazon Web Services (AWS), I-66 Express Mobility Partners, Iron Mountain Data Center, Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative, Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center, United Bank, Access Point Public Affairs and Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley & Walsh, P.C.,  whose contributions trigger the match from Allan Myers.  The outpouring of support from Chamber members has allowed us to exceed our initial goal and to contribute $20,000 each to ACTS and SERVE who are providing critically needed support to Prince William residents,” she said.

Stephanie Berkowitz, President and CEO of Northern Virginia Family Service, which operates SERVE said, “We are very grateful to the Chamber members and Allan Myers for this timely and much needed support.  We are seeing unprecedented requests for emergency assistance, including for food, rent payments, medications and other costs.”

Steven Liga, CEO of ACTS, said, ““This donation could not have come at a better time.  With grocery store shelves so limited, we are having to purchase food from distributors in greater amounts than ever before.  Just last week we purchased $1,000 worth of corn flakes, since cereal is so hard to come by! This $20,000 will be put to good use right away. Thank you to Allan Myers and our other fellow Chamber business partners for this support.”

The needs are significant. Chamber members and other businesses that have the capacity to help by making a financial contribution should contact Anita Duecaster at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)