A Holiday Letter from CFNC

Dear Friends,

With the dawning of a new holiday season, we often find ourselves reminiscing on the events that shaped our year. In 2010, The Child & Family Network Centers (CFNC) experienced events that brought us joy, gratitude, sadness and fulfillment.

JOY in being able to prepare nearly 200 preschoolers for kindergarten, being considered one of the top preschools in the area by Northern Virginia Magazine (January 2010), and being among the first child care centers to receive a four-star rating from the Virginia Star Quality Initiative.

GRATITUDE in knowing that hundreds of thoughtful contributors and volunteers joined forces with CFNC to help defeat a major impediment to children succeeding in school and in life - a lack of early childhood education.

SADNESS in seeing our Founder and Executive Director Barbara Mason retire after 26 years of extraordinary service to our children and our early childhood community.

FULFILLMENT in knowing that with your continued help and the support of our corporate, foundation and local government partners, CFNC will continue to achieve its goal of providing the best possible learning environment for our neediest children and their families.

We are firm believers that a society is judged by the manner in which it cares for the less fortunate members of its population. It is our hope that we will always be known as an organization that cares enough about the community to make a difference and that we never forget that it is "ALL ABOUT THE KIDS."

On behalf of our children, parents, faculty, administrators and board members, I wish you the very best that life has to offer. May your holiday season be filled with joy and happiness. Please keep CFNC in your thoughts and continue to provide your valuable assistance in helping us serve our community.


Warm Regards,

Lee Jackson
Interim Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer

A Community of Kindness:

This holiday season, CFNC has been positively overwhelmed by the spirit of giving in the Northern Virginia Community. It has taken over hallways, offices, classrooms and put smiles and wonderment (at times chocolate, glitter and reindeer antlers!) on the faces of CFNC's nearly 200 students.



Students kicked off the season with holiday parties coordinated by employees of local businesses. Health Central, McKinley Marketing, Elizabeth Lucchesi and the LizLuke Team, Dominion VA Power and A+ Government Solutions entertained students with arts & crafts projects, story-telling, cupcake decorating, hat making, pizza and even a game of pin the carrot nose on the snowman. Each party was a joyous and festive occasion and we are grateful to everyone involved for their creativity, generosity and for taking the time to celebrate with our students.



Additionally, churches, businesses and individuals brought holiday magic to each of CFNC's families by purchasing gifts for all. CFNC families completed a wish list and, more often than not, found each and every item requested wrapped and delivered to their child's class. From bikes, to clothing, kitchen supplies and even bunk beds--delivered in moving vans, wrapped and labeled--the generosity was astonishing. A huge thanks to the local church groups, the individuals and businesses who worked very hard to adopt a CFNC family, ensuring for each one a festive holiday.

CFNC students will be warm, thanks to employees of Liberty Mutual & Enterprise

A warm coat is a necessity in our area during the winter time, though quite often something our children and families go without. That's why we are positively thrilled to have the generous support of local Liberty Mutual Insurance and Enterprise Rent-A-Car employees and friends who partnered up to provide more than 150new winter coats to CFNC students this year.

It was a team effort of the Fairfax, VA and Hunt Valley, MD offices of Liberty Mutual and DC metro area Enterprise offices, as employees worked together to purchase the proper pre-specified size and color coat for each CFNC student. Their effort was tremendous.





Not satisfied with simply making the purchases, employees from Liberty Mutual and Enterprise took a day off to deliver the coats to CFNC and meet the children who will be kept warm in them. Rick Watkins, Erin Wood and Gina Cernak of Liberty Mutual and Lisa Tolbert from Enterprise had a wonderful time getting to know the children and revealing their new winter coats...and, as you can see from the faces here, children were overjoyed. Liberty Mutual and Enterprise described their experience as "wonderful!" "great!" "far exceeded expectations!" "truly made a difference!" It was a very positive day for all.



A very heartfelt thanks to the employees of Liberty Mutual and Enterprise for their extraordinary kindness. CFNC children will run around and play outside this winter, warm and cozy in their new coats.

In Lieu of Gifts, A Toy for CFNC

Mollie Miller and Hannah Thomas, 6th graders at St. Stephen's & St Agnes School,recently turned 12 years old and had a joint birthday party last week to celebrate. Instead of gifts, Mollie and Hannah asked their friends to bring an educational toy to be donated to the preschoolers at CFNC!

Mollie and Hannah and Hannah's mother, Diane, delivered four large bags of toys and books--more than 60 items-- to CFNC and also brought a book and drawing activity to engage the children. Mollie and Hannah read a winter-time story and then helped preschoolers draw and color, using glitter to create winter snowscapes. The children had a ball with their visitors and will certainly enjoy their new toys and books!

CFNC would like to give a big thanks to Mollie and Hannah for including CFNC in their birthday celebration...and of course wish them a very Happy Birthday, too! We hope they'll be back soon for another visit.

CFNC particpates in Deals for Deeds

Last week we asked that you vote for CFNC's particpation in Deals for Deeds and this week we're proud to announce that we've received the most number of votes! Thank you for your help. As a result, CFNC will be featured on the Deals for Deeds website at www.dealsfordeeds.com this entire week (12/20-12/26)!

What this means is that a minimum of 5% of every sale on the Deals for Deeds website this week will come to CFNC to support and enhance CFNC's preschool science program. Deals For Deeds is an innovative new platform that helps non-profits raise funds and awareness while offering great deals on the best the DC-area has to offer like spas, restaurants, bars, and more--all at 30-50% off. Everyday there is a new, great deal offered for purchase and there will be some pretty neat deals offered this week in honor of the season. We hope that you will check out www.dealsfordeeds.com and please spread the word. The more deals purchased this week, the more CFNC benefits!

Don't Forget!. CFNC & iGive

There may still be time to do last minute shopping online and support CFNC! Shop all year at iGive.com and up to 26% of purchases at participating stores (like Old Navy, Bed Bath & Beyond, William Sonoma, DSW, Gap, Eddie Bauer, J.Crew-- 823 in total!) will go to your charity of choice.
Join iGive.com here to support CFNC. It's free, safe, and easy to join. Remember: CFNC only benefits when you make purchases through the iGive website. If you go directly to the retailers' website and make purchases, CFNC will not receive a percentage of the sale. Please help us spread the word!