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In March 2020, our lives, along with the world around us changed due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. In the early weeks of being quarantined, my wife Tamara and I conceived an idea that would help us to connect to those outside of ourselves: the outside world, our family, and our friends. Shortly thereafter, we created “WorryLess Wednesday.” WorryLess Wednesday is a weekly Zoom group that provides a trusted forum for individuals to freely converse about what is going on around us concerning the COVID Pandemic. The pandemic impacted our lives in various ways and this outlet helped to equalize our new normal.
As this group has been a tremendous blessing in our lives, we wanted to give back to local business. We incorporated fundraising opportunities within our small group. However, Tamara and I felt like we could and should be doing more.
I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Willing Warriors at Bull Run (www.willingwarriors.org) on several occasions. This retreat center is fully funded by money that is donated, allowing recovering service members and their families to have a “home away from home” at no cost. These service members are being treated at military hospitals in the National Capital Region. This retreat center provides them time away from the hospital setting to enjoy time with their families and revitalize the mind, spirit and soul. To that end, the families are required to supply their own food for the duration of the retreat except Sundays. On Sundays, volunteer chefs cook the family’s favorite meals. [1]
When we think of a retreat, the first thing that comes to mind is a time of complete relaxation. With that in mind, we thought it would be great to pay for a family’s Friday night meal. This would allow them time to get in and not have to worry about shopping that evening. Also, by using a local vendor, it puts money back into small businesses within our community. I connected with Tony’s New York Pizza in the Dominion Valley neighborhood. They were more than happy to assist with our first purchase.
Since that time, several families have asked to pay-it-forward and provided meals to future retreat visitors. In addition, I have other coworkers that have volunteered to pay for a meal. With that said, we realize that we want to do more.
Our goal as a group is to support the mission of the Willing Warriors Retreat at Bull Run by successfully coordinating the fundraising to support the meals provided to the incoming families upon arrival to the retreat.
We are currently in the process of developing an nonprofit organization to support this initiative; however, that takes time. In the in between time, we would like to be able to continue to support our Warriors by providing their Friday night meals, but we do need your help. On average each Friday night meal costs roughly $150. We feel that the funds raised will allow us the time to get all the necessary documentation completed to get our nonprofit off the ground, so we can really get down with our fundraising efforts.
We appreciate your support!
Thank you,
Toby Anderson
Tamara Anderson
April Davis
[1] www.willingwarriors.org
As this group has been a tremendous blessing in our lives, we wanted to give back to local business. We incorporated fundraising opportunities within our small group. However, Tamara and I felt like we could and should be doing more.
I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Willing Warriors at Bull Run (www.willingwarriors.org) on several occasions. This retreat center is fully funded by money that is donated, allowing recovering service members and their families to have a “home away from home” at no cost. These service members are being treated at military hospitals in the National Capital Region. This retreat center provides them time away from the hospital setting to enjoy time with their families and revitalize the mind, spirit and soul. To that end, the families are required to supply their own food for the duration of the retreat except Sundays. On Sundays, volunteer chefs cook the family’s favorite meals. [1]
When we think of a retreat, the first thing that comes to mind is a time of complete relaxation. With that in mind, we thought it would be great to pay for a family’s Friday night meal. This would allow them time to get in and not have to worry about shopping that evening. Also, by using a local vendor, it puts money back into small businesses within our community. I connected with Tony’s New York Pizza in the Dominion Valley neighborhood. They were more than happy to assist with our first purchase.
Since that time, several families have asked to pay-it-forward and provided meals to future retreat visitors. In addition, I have other coworkers that have volunteered to pay for a meal. With that said, we realize that we want to do more.
Our goal as a group is to support the mission of the Willing Warriors Retreat at Bull Run by successfully coordinating the fundraising to support the meals provided to the incoming families upon arrival to the retreat.
We are currently in the process of developing an nonprofit organization to support this initiative; however, that takes time. In the in between time, we would like to be able to continue to support our Warriors by providing their Friday night meals, but we do need your help. On average each Friday night meal costs roughly $150. We feel that the funds raised will allow us the time to get all the necessary documentation completed to get our nonprofit off the ground, so we can really get down with our fundraising efforts.
We appreciate your support!
Thank you,
Toby Anderson
Tamara Anderson
April Davis
[1] www.willingwarriors.org