Monthly Archives: August 2020

Pay It Forward – Free Headshots for Unemployed Workers

Community,

 

COVID-19 has had an unprecedented impact on the lives of Americans worldwide.? In the DMV region, in particular, the unemployment rate has skyrocketed leaving hundreds of thousands without jobs during this global pandemic.? In the spirit of giving back, Fox 5 DC and Easterns Automotive Group decided to do something very special for this week?s Pay It Forward.

With so many feeling the impact of job loss by coronavirus, the Pay It Forward crew decided to partner with local photographer Samira Rashid and Creative Saints Loft in Hyattsville, Maryland.? They set up an entire day where they provided free headshots to people to help them relaunch their careers. ?Ishmael Wilson of Fresh Dry Cleaners chatted with Bob Barnard of Fox 5 DC about losing about 85% of their customers because of the pandemic.? People are not getting their clothes dry cleaned as much as before because the majority of them are working from home.

Easterns Automotive Group was happy to partner with Fox 5 DC to curate this amazing event. The smiles in the room were priceless because this small gesture meant the world to those that were there.? People were able to dress up and feel good about themselves again.? It also gave them the boost of confidence that they need to go out there and find another opportunity. ?Joel Bassam of Easterns paid for the venue as well as new headshots for 15 people.? Giving back is necessary ? even if it?s not much. Everyone can their part!

If you know someone in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia area that goes above and beyond the call and is worthy of being recognized,?Click here?to nominate them.

?Watch the video to see the way everything unfolded.

 

 

 

Pay It Forward – Montgomery County Animal Services and Adoption Center

Community,

 

As you all know, businesses all across the county have been heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.? Many have had to shut down completely while some chose to operate by appointment only basis with a limited staff.? Montgomery County Animal Services and Adoption Center in Maryland was a business that was down but is back up and running.? Easterns Automotive Group and Fox 5 DC decided to head over to their center in Derwood and surprise them for their reopening.

They have been closed during the pandemic to the public but the work for them hasn?t stopped.? Their team has continued to rescue animals and provide emergency care when needed as the only open-admission municipal shelter in Montgomery County.

Fox 5 DC?s Mike Thomas caught up with Deputy Executive Director Lex Lepiarz and she let him in on a great deal of information.? According to Lepiarz, the community has been a great support system during the COVID-19 pandemic.? They have been able to send many animals to foster care while still being able to admit animals in their facility.? Her only hope is that the community continues to show the same support as they reopen.

Lepiarz was shocked as Thomas spoke to Joel Bassam of Easterns on a video call.? Bassam announced that they were going to Pay It Forward by encouraging people to ?Clear the Shelter? and adopt pets by paying the adoption fees of the first 50 people who choose to provide homes for dogs and cats.? This incentive will be a great help as many people may want to adopt but just don?t have the funds right now.? If you would like to learn more about Montgomery County Animal Services & Adoption Center and their adoption process, please click here.

 

If you know someone in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia area that goes above and beyond the call and is worthy of being recognized, Click here to nominate them.

?

Watch the video to see the way everything unfolded.

 

YouTube Link ? https://youtu.be/_mkeP44_R1k

Link to original post ? https://www.fox5dc.com/news/montgomery-county-animal-services-and-adoption-center-reopens-for-adoptions

Get Up Give Back – Families4FamiliesDMV

Community,

 

The COVID-19 pandemic has truly taken a toll on everyone. Families across the DC, Maryland, Virginia have been hit extremely hard due to the increasing unemployment. This has resulted in many needing the bare necessities such as food. The Marshall family created Families4Families as a way to cater to those in need by addressing the critical food emergency that the coronavirus pandemic has caused. James Marshall and his siblings began collecting groceries in their driveway to deliver them to families across the DC metro area. After a few weeks, Families4Families made it to over 12 cities as people were inspired by their model.

The way Families4Families works is that a middle and/or high school students create an F4F Student Club at their school. Every F4F Student Club is paired with a nonprofit partner organization that has been carefully vetted. The duty of the partner organization is to identify the families that have been most impacted by the pandemic. The F4F Student Club collects groceries and essential items that are in demand. Once the items are collected, they are then delivered once a month to the partner organization that distributes the food to the families in need.

To date, F4F has delivered over 125,000 meals across the United States and over 1,000 people have volunteered to help out the cause. An idea that started so small turned out to be major as it received such an incredible response. According to Marshall, they are in the process of setting up a 501c3 so people can donate to their cause.

Easterns Automotive Group and WUSA 9 got wind of Families4FamiliesDMV and wanted to help out their incredible cause. Reese Waters of Get Up DC was able to chat with Marshall via video call during his Get Up Give Back segment. During their conversation, Waters announced that Marshall would be receiving a $1,000 donation from Easterns for the hard work of him and his family. Please visit www.families4familiesdmv.org to learn more and support their efforts.

 

Easterns Automotive Group and WUSA 9 are always here to help. If you know someone in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia area that is worthy of being helped or recognized, please contact at?@ReeseWaters?on social media. #GetUpDC #GetUpGiveBack

 

YouTube Link ? https://youtu.be/8hoQ2gO83oE

Helping Hands – A Football Coach w/ a Heart of Gold

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Role models are extremely important to have in communities to encourage and guide the youth.? For Montgomery Village, Coach Joseph Hooks is just that.? Coach Hooks is the coach for the Montgomery Village Chiefs football team.? COVID-19 has put a huge damper on their typical summer football drills.? However, Coach Hooks is doing his part to ensure that his players stay in shape even as well giving back to their community.

Coach Hooks has a personal connection with Montgomery County, Maryland because he grew up in the community himself and was a student of Montgomery Village Middle School.? He is a guy that knows firsthand of the struggle that some face in the area and wants to lead by example now that he is in a position to help.? Times are very tough for people with the unemployment rates at all-time high and the state of the country not improving financially.? Coach Hooks gathers his team up to give away groceries to hundreds of struggling families in the community after their outdoor practice.? The line stretches for blocks but it is understandable considering the unprecedented times we are in and people being in desperate need of basic necessities.

Coach Hooks has been working with corporations, volunteers, and nonprofit organizations for over a month now to have a supply of food that can be distributed to the families that need it the most.? Easterns Automotive Group and ABC 7 WJLA heard about Coach Hooks and his tremendous community efforts and wanted to be apart of it.? They were able to highlight Coach Hooks on their Helping Hands segment and provide him with a special donation.? Joel Bassam surprised Coach Hooks in person with a $1,500 donation to contribute to his great cause.? This will allow him and his team to provide groceries for many more families in the DMV.

 

Watch the video to see how everything unfolded.

Helping Hands, powered by ABC 7 is always looking to help out people or organizations in need that are worthy of assistance.? If you know someone that fits this description, please click here to nominate them.

YouTube Link ? https://youtu.be/9cDB1LXJKW0

Road to a Better Community – Project Support Initiative

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The never-ending COVID-19 pandemic has affected us all in more ways than we can imagine.? It has made simple tasks like running to the store very risky.? Although many have the ability to just throw on a mask and gloves, it is not that easy for some.? Two high school teens from Virginia saw this as a call to action. Akshath Mahajan of Rock Ridge High School in Ashburn, VA, and Maneesh Vallurupalli of John Champe High School in Aldie, VA teamed up to form Project Support Initiative ? a nonprofit organization that deploys volunteers to go grocery shopping and pick up essentials for people who are elderly and immunocompromised.

There is nothing like seeing two young people doing their part to help out their community during a tough time.? Mahajan came up with the idea to start the Public Support Initiative after speaking with an elderly mentor whose wife survived cancer.? He was scared of grocery shopping because he didn?t want to bring the COVID-19 virus back to his wife.? It was at that moment that Mahajan volunteered to go shopping for him so his mentor wouldn?t have to put himself or his wife at risk.

Public Support Initiative started very small with just Mahajan and Vallurupalli shopping in their local Northern Virginia community.? They had no clue that it would have such an impact not just locally but globally as well.? To date, Public Support Initiative has 220 dedicated volunteers, 22 national chapters, and has served over 1,300 seniors and people across their globe.? They have also reached over $100,000 worth of groceries delivered.? A small no-contact grocery delivery service that started in Loudoun County has inspired other teens and young people to get involved and put their own health at risk to help those in need. However, there is one thing that they are in need of and that is safety essentials.? Public Support Initiative does not ask for cash donations but having the proper PPE would help them and their volunteers to sanitize properly and disinfect the grocery items.

WUSA 9 and Easterns Automotive Group team up for a monthly segment where they find people or organizations to highlight that doing tremendous work in the community.? Joel Bassam of Easterns Automotive Group surprised Mahajan and Vallurupalli on a video call to express his appreciation and gratitude for the way they have come together to form Public Support Initiative.? Bassam donated 1,000 units of PPE on behalf of Easterns for all of their current volunteers and any new ones that decide to come on board.? If you would like to learn more about Public Support Initiative and how you can be a part of their movement, please visit https://sites.google.com/view/projectsup/home

To learn more about Easterns Automotive Group?s partnership with WUSA 9 and how they come together to empower the DMV community, please visit www.wusa9.com/BetterCommunity

YouTube Link ? https://youtu.be/dy_Hm8Z67lE

Helping Hands – Surprising a Retired Teacher

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Many times, people ask if good people still exist.? The answer is yes because Karen Shilling of Montgomery County, Maryland is one of them.? Shilling is a retired teacher that has spent years working at Thomas Edison High School in Silver Spring, Maryland with the academic and career program for adult ESOL students.? However, it seems like her retirement ignited a new flame in her as she continues to give with a broken arm during this global COVID-19 pandemic.

When schools shut down early this year, Shilling took matters into her own hands.? She made the decision to turn her garage into a food pantry with the help of her small team of family, neighbors, and fellow teachers.? Shilling knows and understands how much of a trying time this is for Americans, so she wanted to do her part to help students as well as adults during such a difficult time.? People are out of school and work with no extra funds for food.? With unemployment through the roof and the government putting an end to the additional federal aid, people across the country are losing everything.? The bare necessities have become luxuries for some.? Shilling has been giving out masks to everyone as well as the hope to prevent the spread of the virus.? She has received donations and packages from food pantries and the USDA who have been in full support of her mission.? Her husband, Brian Shilling has even been helping out as he sees how passionate his wife is about helping others.

ABC 7 and Easterns Automotive Group heard of Shilling?s incredible mission and wanted to cover it on their Helping Hands segment.? Cameras followed Joel Bassam as he surprised Shilling with a check for $1,500 to help continue feeding those in need during this time.? Bassam and Easterns family have loved doing their part to feed the community since they started in business over 30 years ago.? It?s important that we stick together as a community and always be a helping hand to one another when we can.

 

Watch the video to see how everything unfolded.

Helping Hands, powered by ABC 7 is always looking to help out people or organizations in need that are worthy of assistance.? If you know someone that fits this description, please click here to nominate them.?

YouTube Link ? https://youtu.be/M9Su8j3F85I