Thanksgiving is almost here, for most years that would mean going to see family and having a large elaborate dinner. However with COVID-19 and the subsequent economic hardships that came along with it, many families are having a tough time. To help these families, Dominion has partnered with the Grace Covenant Church to hold a Thanksgiving food drive. 

According to Parry Kaufman, a member of the Wellness Committee who is running the drive, said, “We currently have around 300 committed bag donations to cover that many families.” These meals include stuffing mix, 4 cans of vegetables, boxed potatoes, gravy, cornbread or biscuit mix, cranberry sauce, and some sort of dessert mix and a gift card to purchase a turkey or any additional supplies needed. 

These meals are designed to feed families of up to 6-8 people. Also, all of these items are non-perishable meaning that if the family chooses to not cook the meal right away, they don’t have to worry about the items expiring. Gift cards are also included in the drive. 

These meals were delivered on Monday, November 23rd, and Tuesday, November 24th. These meals will follow the food distribution busses. These busses provide meals to Dominion students in need. Every family that has a child that is receiving meals from the school will get the offer of a thanksgiving meal. 

Dominion is doing the drive to help families in need during these difficult times. Kaufman said, “As a team, we could not imagine any of our school families not having a Thanksgiving meal and wanted to do what we could to be sure nobody went without as much as we possibly could support our families.”

The idea originated from Assistant Principal Jamie Braxton’s husband. Many Dominion faculty members rallied behind this idea. Braxton presented the idea to the Wellness Committee who thought it was a great idea. The Wellness Committee then presented the idea to the Dominion staff and ATLAS (the Parent-Teacher Organization).

They also got the help of the Grace Covenant Church, who holds their services inside Dominion. This allowed people who may not go to Dominion, but still live in the Sterling area to hear about the drive.

With the help of the Dominion staff, the parent teacher organization, and the Grace Covenant Church, the Wellness committee collected around 275 meals. 

Churchill Clendenin, the administrative coordinator for Grace Covenant Church, said, “We have asked our church members to provide canned goods and other non-perishable bags of food for a Thanksgiving meal.” 

Grace Covenant church has also been helping the Sterling community throughout the pandemic. They have partnered with Mobile Hope, a Loudoun based non-profit organization, to provide meals to families in the Northern Virginia area. If you would like to get involved, you can text “OUTREACH” to 474747, this will get you in contact with the church about trying to help the Sterling community.