ACTS Food Pantry at 17866 Main St, Dumfries

Critical need is from June to October (They receive large donations in November due to school and scout food drives, such as Operation Turkey). Kids are not getting school breakfast and lunches during this time, so there is a big need for "munchy" items, such as peanut butter and jelly, soups, tuna. There is always a need for canned and non-perishables.

Contact person is Kathleen Connard, 703-221-3186, email is try4faith@aol.com. If you email her, put something about the food pantry or ACTS in the subject line, or she will delete the email. Her assistant will know what the pantry's needs are, if you can't reach Kathleen.

The women leave their homes quite often "in a hurry" and a canvas or fabric bag containing necessities is welcomed for the moms and kids. They can contain daily necessities, or be holiday themed (Valentine's, Easter, etc.) The locations for these shelters are not published.

Contact is Kay Mathews (703) 441-8606, email is acts2tp@aol.com .

The Shelter relies on churches and other organizations to provide hot meals and a sack lunch to guests. They are also in need of personal items. To donate meals or personal items, contact Bill Mehr, shelter phone is (703)897-0199, or contact Judy Handres, SU 80-9 Webmaster , for further details. They don't have much storage space so call ahead if you wish to donate food.

Hypothermia (Winter) Shelter: Nov 1 - March 31, 7pm-7am. This is sponsored by the county during the cold winter months for homeless people to have a warm place to sleep. They provide a bed; dinner, breakfast, and a sack lunch is provided by charitable organizations. At this time, the shelter has an urgent need for a group or groups to prepare dinner on Sundays in November. Sundays dinners in March have also not been covered yet. They would also love to have an organization make brunch on Saturday mornings, after 9am.

Drop-in Center: Open Year Round. On the same site, this service is by sponsored by local churches. The drop-in center is open about 20 hours a week, where they provide outreach assistance, such as medical services and employment counseling.

Donations: The personal items needed are for adult men and women, such as bus tokens for PRTC, underwear (32-36 briefs or women's underwear size 7-8), white crew socks, towels, razors (disposable triple-blades), deodorant, shampoo, feminine products, etc. They can always use cereals, milk, other breakfast items. Click here for a complete list of current needs.

There is a homeless community that lives outdoors. They can always use any type of camping supplies (canteens, sleeping bags, sweatshirts, etc.) Multivitamins are always good to supplement poor diets.

Contact is Aletha Martin, Director, (703) 221-3188.