<sh>Police Charge 5 With Robbery
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Fairfax County Police arrested five people and charged them with robbery after a incident that occurred in Chantilly. According to police a 16-year-old boy was walking on Airline Parkway when five young men approached him and started a fight. The suspects knocked the victim to the ground, took cash and left the area in a car. Police located the five suspects on Arlington Boulevard near Seven Corners and took them into custody without incident.
Eighteen-year-old Elmer Andrade of 3041 Patrick Henry Drive and 18-year-old Romulo Mendoza of 3048 Patrick Henry Drive, both of the Falls Church area were being held at the Adult Detention Center without bond. Three 16-year-old Falls Church area boys were being held at the Juvenile Detention Center pending a court hearing.
<sh>Yard Sale for Ashley
<bt>Centreville's Crofton Commons community is having a yard sale, Saturday, Aug. 24, at 8 a.m. to benefit 6-year-old Ashley Dubey, who lives in the community. Ashley is undergoing rehabilitation after being struck by a car in May; proceeds will help her family with her medical bills. The yard sale will be along Old Centreville Road (off Route 28 and Compton Road), at several homes between Ravenscar Court and Stilsby Court.
Items for sale include children's and household items, plus a queen-size bed, mattress and box springs, cherry-wood headboard, two night stands, mirror and dresser, a 17-inch TV, a G.E. full-size refrigerator, a weight-lifting machine and a brand-new, extra-large, George Foreman grill.
In addition, those wishing to contribute to the bank account set up for Ashley may send checks, payable to Harsh Dubey, to: Bank of America, 14122 Lee Highway, Centreville, VA 20120.
<sh>Sully Land-Use, Traffic
<bt>The Sully District Council of Citizens Associations Land-Use and Transportation Committee will meet Monday, Aug. 26, at 7:30 p.m. in Supervisor Michael R. Frey's (R-Sully) conference room. It's at 5900 Old Centreville Road in Centreville. The group normally meets, the first Monday of the month, but is meeting a week early since the Labor Day holiday falls on the first Monday in September.
<sh>School-Supply Drive
<bt>Century 21 New Millennium is collecting school supplies — anything from pencils to backpacks — for local needy children, through Aug. 27. Individuals and businesses wishing to help may drop off donations at Century 21 New Millennium, 5109 Westfields Blvd. in Centreville (next to Safeway in the Sully Station shopping center).
<sh>CCF Meets Aug. 27
<bt>The Centreville Community Foundation (CCF) will meet Tuesday, Aug. 27, at 7 p.m. in Supervisor Michael R. Frey's (R-Sully) conference room at 5900 Old Centreville Road in Centreville. CCF members are busy working on the gala Centreville Day celebration on Sept. 14, and they could still use volunteers to help make it a success. Call Sandy Shapiro at 703-266-3653.
<sh>Sully District Democrats
<bt>The next meeting of the Sully District Democratic Committee will be Wednesday, Aug. 28, at 7:30 p.m. at the Chantilly Regional Library. Call Pete Contostavlos 703-217-3560.
<sh>Sully District Council
<bt>The Sully District Council of Citizens Associations will meet Wednesday, Aug. 28, at 7:30 p.m. in conference room 7 of the Fairfax County Government Center. Call Mark McConn at 703-818-9124.
<sh>Park Authority Meeting
<bt>The next meeting of the Fairfax County Park Authority will be Wednesday, Aug. 28, at 7:30 p.m. in the Herrity Building, 12055 Government Center Parkway, Suite 900, in Fairfax. Call Judy Pedersen at 703-324-8662.
<sh>Attorney's License Suspended
<bt>The Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board has suspended the law license of a Clifton attorney. He is Robert Edmund La Serte of 5827 Orchard Hill Lane in The Ponds community, near New Braddock Road.
On July 26, the board suspended his license to practice law for three years and issued a public reprimand. The board found that he incompetently drafted a legally defective deed and failed to explain to his client that his office could not perform the real-estate settlement the client believed she had engaged him to perform.
It also found that he failed to reconcile, balance and maintain proper records for his trust account. According to the Virginia State Bar, "La Serte's failure to inform his client that his office did not perform residential real-estate settlements caused delay in a scheduled settlement, with attendant increased costs to his client."
The Virginia State Bar further noted that "his mismanagement of his trust account resulted in loss to his bank when it honored a check drawn by [him] against insufficient funds." La Serte was ordered to make full restitution to the client and the bank or suffer revocation of his license to practice law in Virginia.
<sh>WFCM Needs Food, Volunteers
<bt>Western Fairfax Christian Ministry's (WFCM) food pantry — which provides food to local needy families — is in serious need of several items. They are: Breakfast cereal, canned pastas, fruit, juices and meats (salmon and chicken), coffee, tea, flour, sugar, shortening, spaghetti sauce and toilet tissue.
To donate, call 703-815-3238, or bring these things to the Shepherd Center. It's open Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., and is between Fashion Bug and Payless Shoes in the Sully Plaza Shopping Center at 13924 Metrotech Drive in Chantilly.
In addition, because of summer vacations, the WFCM is also in urgent need of volunteers, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-noon and noon-2 p.m. To volunteer, call 703-988-9656.
<sh>Kids in Crisis Ministry
<bt>Western Fairfax Christian Ministry's (WFCM) Kids in Crisis Ministry provides emergency assistance to families impacted by a child's illness. Since such families are too distracted to research all the organizations that might help them, If anyone knows of a family in need, please advise them to call the hotline at 703-378-3045. Leave a message on the "Kids in Crisis" box, and a volunteer will return the call.
This program offers a safety net for families whose income or expenses are affected by a child's illness. Besides medical bills, they'll incur costs such as travel, babysitting, special equipment and home health care.
Even families with adequate health insurance may find it difficult to meet these expenses. Kids in Crisis aids in areas not covered by traditional health insurance policies. For more information, call the hotline or Karen Dolan at 703-266-3144.
<sh>Blood Urgently Needed
<bt>The Inova Blood Donor Center in the Centremed I Building on Route 29 in Centreville (across from the Centreville Multiplex Cinemas) is in urgent need of blood donations — especially O positive or negative, as well as A and B. They are accepted Tuesday-Friday, noon-8 p.m., and Saturday, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. To make an appointment to give blood, call 703-322-1970, or just drop in at your own convenience.
<sh>WFCM Personnel Needs
<bt>The Western Fairfax Christian Ministries (WFCM) has several volunteer positions available.
* It needs a client coordinator to make follow-up calls to members of the community who have recently received assistance. This person would also cross-reference recipients with other WFCM services (food and clothing ministry). It would be a good job for someone who has to stay close to home.
* On-call volunteers are also needed. After receiving training, they'll monitor requests for help, coming from the local community, via a telephone mailbox. There's a social worker on staff, plus an extensive network of support to help and encourage people in self-sufficiency.
* WFCM's food pantry needs volunteers to work Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., and Saturdays, noon-2 p.m. To volunteer for any of these positions. or for more information, call 703-378-3045 and leave a message on box 7.
<sh>WFCM Needs Drivers
<bt>The Western Fairfax Christian Ministries is in need of drivers to take elderly people to medical appointments. Call 703-378-3045 and press 7 to volunteer for this or any other WFCM ministry.
<sh>Meals on Wheels
<bt>The Clifton Meals on Wheels program urgently needs a volunteer to coordinate the delivery of meals to frail, elderly residents. Call the Fairfax Area Agency on Aging at 703-324-5406.