FCEF Family Assistance Fund
FCEF supports more than 350 students in our community—13 percent of our student population—who are in need of additional assistance, funding language instruction and basic needs like food, clothing, and school supplies. Since 2018, FCEF has provided more than $350,000 in support for families in the Little City.
During the 2024-2025 school year, the fund was used to purchase:
Please consider a donation to our Family Assistance Fund, which helps ensure that our students are ready to learn every day they attend school. Our goal is $60,000 per year in support. To give, please click here and select "Family Assistance Fund" in the drop-down menu.
During the 2024-2025 school year, the fund was used to purchase:
- grocery gift cards during holiday and spring breaks
- welcoming kits for new families to our schools
- backpacks and school supplies
- snacks for during and after school
- clothes, especially for events like band/chorus concerts, homecoming/prom, graduation
- toiletries
- medical expenses to help offset large prescription costs
- transportation, mainly for medical appointments since most families do not have cars
- mattresses
- extracurricular activities for students in the community
- headphones
- alarm clocks
Please consider a donation to our Family Assistance Fund, which helps ensure that our students are ready to learn every day they attend school. Our goal is $60,000 per year in support. To give, please click here and select "Family Assistance Fund" in the drop-down menu.
"The Family Assistance Fund allows our social work team to respond immediately, in real time, and provides advocacy, comfort, dignity, and grace when they are needed most in life. Sometimes it's purchasing a bed so a child can rest well for school or a gift card for extra food when times are tight. The Falls Church Education Foundation and the community's support of the Family Assistance Fund has allowed our team to focus on meeting the needs of families, rather than fundraising or seeing families do without when there are gaps in systems." –Rebecca Sharp, Executive Director of Special Education and Student Services
Food and Financial Support for FCCPS Families
If your family is struggling financially with food insecurity, check out the list of community resources, or reach out to your school's Social Worker, who can help with grocery gift cards donated by the FCEF Family Assistance Fund and can also provide referrals to local food pantries. The City’s Housing and Human Services office can also help with resources.
Regarding SNAP benefits, as of October 30, Virginia has launched VENA, an emergency food assistance program to fill the gap when SNAP benefits lapse starting Nov. 1 due to the federal government shutdown. People eligible for SNAP as of October 29, 2025, should receive a weekly benefit on their EBT cards. Payments are scheduled to begin Nov. 3. Learn more about SNAP and VENA.
Contact a School Social Worker
How to Help
If you would like to donate to help families, we suggest donating funds because food banks can stretch food dollars further by purchasing food through wholesalers.
Regarding SNAP benefits, as of October 30, Virginia has launched VENA, an emergency food assistance program to fill the gap when SNAP benefits lapse starting Nov. 1 due to the federal government shutdown. People eligible for SNAP as of October 29, 2025, should receive a weekly benefit on their EBT cards. Payments are scheduled to begin Nov. 3. Learn more about SNAP and VENA.
Contact a School Social Worker
- Jessie Thackrey and Mount Daniel: Sarah Coughter; 571-369-7161
- Oak Street: Robin Borum; 571-419-7741
- Mary Ellen Henderson: Colleen Hoover; 703-248-5624
- Meridian: Samantha Daniels; 571-419-1127
How to Help
If you would like to donate to help families, we suggest donating funds because food banks can stretch food dollars further by purchasing food through wholesalers.
- FCEF Family Assistance Fund: All funds go directly to FCCPS families through School Social Workers.
- Food for Others and Falls Church Community Service Council: Local organizations that serve Falls Church families and others in the region. You can donate food or funds to these organizations.