Community Corner

Fairfax Supervisors Collecting Blankets for Syrian Refugees in Turkey

Blankets will be collected through Dec. 5.

Jason Spencer, editor

Fairfax County supervisors have offered their offices as drop-off points in a blanket drive for Syrian refugees in Turkey.

New or gently used blankets can be donated through Dec. 7. The county leaders' goal is to fill a shipping container that will be delivered to Turkey, where a relief agency will distribute them to refugee families, according to a news release.

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Fairfax County has a sisterhood relationship with the city of Keçiören in Ankara, Turkey, which includes a college student exchange. A Northern Virginia delegation that included Purcellville Mayor Bob Lazaro recently visited Turkey as part of an exchange organized by the American Turkish Friendship Association.

Upon returning home, Lazaro blogged about his experience in Turkey, where he visited a camp full of 12,000 people — about 7,000 of them children.

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"As a parent, I can tell you firsthand how heartbreaking the situation is," Lazaro wrote.

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Sharon Bulova this week read an excerpt from Lazaro's blog when asking her colleagues to help collect blankets for the refugees.

Blankets may be dropped off from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays at the following locations:

Office of Chairman Sharon Bulova
Fairfax County Government Center
12000 Government Center Parkway, Suite 530
Fairfax, VA 22035 

Office of Mason District Supervisor Penelope A. Gross
Mason District Governmental Center 
6507 Columbia Pike, Annandale, VA 22003 

Office of Braddock District Supervisor John C. Cook 
Kings Park Library 
9002 Burke Lake Road, Burke, VA 22015 

Office of Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust 
McLean Governmental Center 
6649-A Old Dominion Drive, Mclean, VA 22101 

Office of Lee District Supervisor Jeffrey C. McKay 
Lee District Governmental Center 
6121 Franconia Road, Alexandria, VA 22310 

Office of Mt. Vernon Supervisor Gerald W. Hyland 
Mt. Vernon Governmental Center 
2511 Parkers Lane, Mt, Vernon, VA 22306

Office of Springfield Supervisor Pat Herrity 
Springfield Governmental Center 
6140 Rolling Road, Springfield, VA 22152 


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