The City of Alexandria, Alexandria Renew Enterprises (formerly the Alexandria Sanitation Authority) and the Alexandria Environmental Policy Commission have announced that Danielle Fidler is the winner of this year’s Ellen Pickering Environmental Excellence Award. Fidler served on the Alexandria Environmental Policy Commission for 10 years as member, vice chair, and chair. Despite being a busy environmental attorney, she found the time to develop and drive to completion the landmark Eco-City Alexandria Charter and Environmental Action Plan.
The 2013 Foster parents of the Year for metropolitan Washington are being honored for their commitment to their foster sons and daughters as well as to the children's birth families. City of Alexandria Foster Family of the Year Matt and Carole Keane are foster parents that embody the concept of "Bridging the Gap." The Keanes work with the team to help find solutions that are child-focused and respectful to birth families. Recently the Keanes fostered a 3 year old; the child was able to make a successful and smooth transition to a relative's care. This was largely due to the Keanes' tremendous work in building a relationship with these relatives. They included the relatives in family activities such as the child's soccer games and gymnastics lessons. They also often had the relatives over to their home for dinner.
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