School supply donations can be dropped off at NOVEC to help homeless children get ready for school

NOVEC HELPS, Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative’s group of employee volunteers, is collecting school supplies in August for children staying at two homeless shelters: Fauquier Family Shelter and Hilda M. Barg Homeless Prevention Center.

HELPS is now collecting school supplies for children staying at the Hilda M. Barg Homeless Prevention Center in Woodbridge, Va., operated by Volunteers of America Chesapeake.  According to Barbara Schultheiss, program director, students in all grades need supplies and backpacks.

Collection boxes for Operation Backpack are at these NOVEC offices:

14500 Minnieville Rd.
Woodbridge, VA

10323 Lomond Dr.
Manassas, VA

5399 Wellington Branch Rd.
Gainesville, VA

Supplies may be dropped off from 8:15 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, until Aug. 30, at 4 p.m.

On Aug. 17, NOVEC HELPS delivered boxloads of donated school supplies to children at the Fauquier Family Shelter. The volunteers cooked dinner for shelter residents with food bought by NOVEC employees.

“The residents at Fauquier Family Shelter Services were most appreciative of the school supplies and the meal,” said Ann Phares, a HELPS member who coordinated the project with Linda Baughman, another HELPS member, and seven other volunteers.

For more information, visit http://www.novechelps.org or ca,ll Barbara Schultheiss at 703-680-5403.

NOVEC HELPS, Hands Engaged in Local Public Service, is a non-profit, 501 (c) (3) organization of NOVEC employees who volunteer their time to do community service. The HELPS board of directors votes on projects and events to support, whether with financial donations or with feet on the ground.

NOVEC, headquartered in Manassas, Va., is a not-for-profit electric utility corporation that supplies and distributes electricity and energy-related services to more than 150,000 customers in Fauquier,  Prince William, Stafford, Loudoun, Fairfax and Clarke counties, the Town of Clifton, and the City of Manassas Park.  For more information, visit http://www.novec.com or ca,ll 703-335-0500 or 1-888-335-0500.