Category Archives: Community

Pay It Forward – SMYAL

Community, Uncategorized,

It can be challenging for queer and transgender youth to face discrimination, violence, lack of acceptance, and local organization, SMYAL, is working to combat that.

SMYAL (Supporting and Mentoring Youth Advocates and Leaders), an organization established in 1984, empowers LGBTQ youth by keeping them focused and prepared. SMYAL offers counseling, housing programs and provides leadership opportunities for children ranging from ages 6 – 24. SMYAL also works with the community to give the general public information to increase LGBTQ competency.

Fox 5’s Mauren Umeh got the chance to speak with several remarkable people at Smyal, including Tessa. Tessa is a part of the housing program, and she shared that she feels it takes a load off just having a safe place to live. 

Joel Bassam joined in surprising SMYAL with a message, ” We wanted to honor SMYAL’s incredible dedication to the LGBTQ community by donating $2000 to your mission. You all do such amazing work changing the lives of young people.” Excited and thankful for their donation, SMYAL shared that it would go directly towards helping residents in DC 

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.

Get Up Give Back – KindWorks

Community, Uncategorized,

We’re always looking for ways to Give Back to our community, and we’ve partnered with WUSA9 to recognize KindWorks, a nonprofit that gives back and encourages others to give back in various ways.

Kindworks started about 13 years ago, and its mission is to inspire action for a kinder world. Salma Hasan Ali is its “Chief Inspiration Officer,” She joined Allison Seymour to discuss the group and various services opportunities that give back to our communities.

One of their projects includes KindSoup for the Soul, where volunteers connect via Zoom to create large portions of soup for their families as well as shelters, food banks, neighbors, or anyone just in need of a pick-me-up. KindSoup For The Soul has shared more than 1600 quarts of soup with people in need.

Kindworks also runs a Digital Empowerment initiative. They collect old laptops and computers, and with a volunteer team of refurbishers, they bring them back to life for students and families. They have donated 60 computers so far!

Salma Hasan Ali was ecstatic when Allison shared that we were donating $1,000 to their fantastic initiative! 

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

Pay It Forward – Pastor Robbie Bike Ministry

Community,

After someone stole his bike, Pastor Robbie Pruitt of the Holy Spirit Church in Leesburg began what he calls “bike ministry.”  He works in the backyard of his home to repair bicycles that have been tossed out or given to him just to put a smile on others’ faces.

His goal is to teach children and teenagers how to repair and maintain their bicycles. He also wants to begin to have pop-up bike clinics, where people can stop by and have their bikes fixed and learn how to maintain them in the future.

If you have a bike to donate or have something to learn, you can find Pastor Pruitt on Facebook.

Blown away by what Pastor Pruitt has achieved and helping his community in such a unique way, Joel Bassam of Easterns Automotive Group joined in surprising Pastor Robbie with $1,500. Enough to fix almost 150 bikes!

Helping Hands – Mariflor Ventura

Community,

Mariflor Ventura is an immigrant from El Salvador and a local hero living in Arlington, Virginia. Mariflor, a mother who spends her time raising her twins when not working on an Arlington County School bus, usually kept to herself before the pandemic. Until one day, during the lockdown, her nearby neighbors, who became jobless and hungry, reached out for help. 

After helping one neighbor with milk, food, and diapers for the children, she noticed a need throughout her community. Mariflor expressed how she feels connected to single moms because she was once in their shoes a couple of years ago. Now she is determined to help mothers because she couldn’t help before. Many families in her neighborhood couldn’t go to food banks to get the help they needed, so Mariflor has been a saving grace for those in her community by providing for others right outside of her home.

Mariflor’s living room is stacked to the ceiling with toiletries, food, and everyday items for her to give away to the community, and every Friday, a line forms outside of her house around noon, and volunteers from her church help pass out boxes filled with food. She helps families with donations she receives from the support of neighbors, her church, and strangers. Her goal is to turn this into a non-profit since her journey of helping others has turned into something greater than she expected.

Amazed by how Mariflor is helping her community right from her home, Joel Bassam, from Easterns Automotive Group, sent Mariflor an inspirational video message and surprised her with $2,000 to continue to support her community. Brought to tears, the first thing Mariflor thought about was others. “I don’t deserve this,” she cried. “There are other people that deserve this more.”

Helping Hands – Small Things Matter

Community,

Lana Anderson, a junior at Montgomery Blair High School, and her mom started an organization in 2017 called “Small Things Matter.” They are committed to helping others in need through food, literacy, and charity crafting programs. “Small Things Matter” is a teen-led effort that initially began to involve the youth of all ages in service.  

Lana’s mother shared that her daughter started volunteering when she was younger, and from there, she just liked helping others. She began to help those in need in little ways, which is the inspiration for the club’s name.

They currently run a food distribution program that began serving 300 to 400 families, and over the last year, has expanded to over 1,000. 

7News reporter Kidd O-Shea showed Lana and her mother a video from Easterns Automotive Group’s Joel Bassam, who joined with a special surprise. Blown away by the way they have pivoted their support for the community by feeding others, Easterns Automotive Group donated $2,000 to “Small Things Matter.”

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

Helping Hands – Francis on a Hill

Community,

Francis on the Hill is a program run by non-profit, Following Francis, that supports children and families in the Columbia Heights neighborhood. They provide fresh groceries and new clothing to neighborhood residents. They also improve public spaces in and around Meridian Hill Park.

When COVID-19 restrictions began, Dr. Carol Conner, the founder of Francis on the Hill, saw a chance to help those affected by the pandemic. They are proud to give fresh fruits and vegetables to those in need and not what they call “hand-me-down” food. Jay Steptoe, the East Coast Director, shared that they started with 30 families, and they now serve 450 families from two locations. Both of their sites, Cardozo High School and Chapin Street Merdian Hill Park, help about 450 families a week with about 20,000 pounds of food total. They accept large pallet-sized donations from organizations like the Capital Area Food Bank. However, they are always taking clothing donations.

Their message is to “Give with Dignity,” and we wanted to ensure that Following Francis and the Francis on the Hill Program can continue to do this incredible work in the community! From Easterns Automotive Group, Joel Bassam joined on this 7News Helping Hands segment to give Following Francis $2,000 towards their mission to continue giving to others in need!

Pay It Forward – Longview School

Community,

On this segment of Pay It Forward, we surprised the staff of Longview School with bags filled with products from women-owned businesses to say thank you during this worldwide crisis.

As children begin to make their way back into the classrooms, we must show our appreciation for the incredible teachers and staff that keep our little loved ones safe.

At Longview Elementary School, a slew of teachers, nurses, parent-teachers, and therapists gathered for this “Pay It Forward” segment as we honored them for being on the frontlines during this worldwide crisis.

Longview School is a special education school for students 5 to 21 years of age with severe intellectual and/or multiple disabilities. Sarah Starr, the principal of Longview School, joined to share how difficult it was during the pandemic for her staff, but they have gotten creative, learned new technologies, and persevered through the pandemic for their students.

Easterns Automotive purchased and filled bags with products from local women-owned businesses to deliver to their staff as a way to say thank you for their continued dedication during this time.

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.

Helping Hands – Women Giving Back

Community,

A non-profit out of Sterling, Virginia, helps women and children in crisis by providing gently used clothes to those in need throughout the Washington, DC metro area.

Families can come and shop free of charge for everyday necessities. Everything that they receive comes from donors; however, they take pride in making sure that the clothes are of excellent quality. They make sure that they are giving away clothes they would want to wear themselves. When the pandemic hit, they closed the doors to their boutique to provide food items to those in need creating a food pantry. They specifically saw a need to help children; they even expanded to a diaper pantry over time. Since June, they have served almost 400 infants a month.

They relied heavily on funding from special events, but they could no longer have them once the pandemic began. This year they were also surprised with a $40,000 rent increase affecting their budget.

Touched by what they are working to achieve, Joel Bassam from Easterns Automotive Group donated $2,000 to help them continue their fantastic mission.

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

 

Road To A Better Community – Perfect Inc

Community

Alyson McNair found that most programs were geared towards men even though the amount of women imprisoned has increased 700% since the ’80s. Women need programs that deal with the emotional, psychological and physical aspects of being incarcerated and how to handle that once they are released.

McNair created Perfect Inc, which focuses on helping formerly incarcerated women find jobs and repair relationships with family members. It started as an idea in 2010 and has now grown into a local non-profit that provides women with job training, coaching, mentorship, and help to transition back into the community.

Moved by the work Perfect Inc is doing to help women rebuild their lives, Joel Bassam from Easterns Automotive Group joined in, surprising them with $2,000! McNair floored and excited that others understand her mission enough to want to donate.

Perfect Inc has noticed an increase in jobs opening in Digital Marketing Management and will use this donation to develop courses to help women get jobs in this area.

Helping Hands – Randolph Elementary Food Pantry

Community,


A group of parents in Arlington, VA, has been feeding families during the pandemic. Bethany Sutton and the PTA of the Randolph Elementary School opened a community food pantry for students and their families that may be in need.

When they first opened the pantry in April of last year, they intended to serve the community for three weeks until school reopened after spring break. However, when schools never went back to their regular schedule, they decided to keep the pantry open to the community. They have seen an average of about 150 families a week. Every Friday, families receive a bag of non-perishable items and any extra donations they may have received that week.

Bethany spends a lot of her time working to secure donations from various community partners. Even neighbors have joined to help by bringing items to her home to give to families. Blown away by Randolph Elementary’s parents stepping up to help families in need, Joel Bassam, director of marketing at?Easterns Automotive Group, surprised Bethany with $1,500 to continue their food pantry for their students.

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