Patty and Kate Moran
Alexandria — Multiple generations of two Alexandria families will be honored at this year’s Senior Services of Alexandria’s Gala for the time and talent they’ve contributed to making Alexandria — and the world — a better place.
This year’s honorees are Patty Moran and her daughter Kate Moran and Lonnie Rich, Marcia Call and their daughter and stepdaughter Sara Rich.
Senior Services of Alexandria’s Annual Generation to Generation Gala will be held Saturday, March 29, at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center. Jen Walker – the Realtor for Del Ray and Beyond – is the presenting sponsor.
This year’s honorees demonstrate that one’s involvement in volunteering, charity, and giving back can have a strong influence on the younger generation that may have a far reaching, sometimes unexpected, and even international, impact.
Patty and Kate Moran are both devoted to the Alexandria Community, and particularly the Del Ray neighborhood. Patty, now administrative assistant to T.C. Williams Principal Suzanne Maxey, has lived in Alexandria since 1976 and has volunteered in almost every sector of the community since then. Each year, she helps T.C. Williams students get acclimated during the first week of school, and plays a vital role in the success of the Titan Expo and the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria’s silent auction. Patty also helps to organize the annual Art on the Avenue Festival, coordinates Del Ray’s First Night activities, and has served as Grand Marshal of the Del Ray Turkey Trot.
Patty’s daughter, Kate Moran, is an accomplished musician, performer and song writer who co-founded the Del Ray Music Festival in 2007. This festival supports local music education as well as highlighting the musicians who live in and around Del Ray. Kate was a special education coordinator for ACPS and a teacher in Loudoun County and used music in her classroom instruction. She continues her commitment to children with her new kids band, “Rainbow Rock!” which has shows around Del Ray, including a monthly residency at St. Elmo’s Coffee Shop. By day, Kate works at the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs.
The Rich/Call family also has a deep commitment to Alexandria, as well as to education on a global scope. Lonnie Rich, a partner with Rich Rosenthal Brincefield Manitta Dzubin & Kroeger, LLP has been heavily involved in the political, civic and community affairs of the City of Alexandria. Lonnie served three terms on City Council, was chairman of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce and has been active in Alexandria nonprofits, boards, and commissions including those focused on issues as diverse as early childhood, civil liberties, human rights, women’s rights and economic development.
Lonnie’s wife, Marcia Call heads up her own corporate recruiting firm, TalentFront and serves as president of EduCorps, an organization providing ongoing teacher training in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi. For two years in the early ‘80s, Marcia served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Zaire, now the DRC, working as a public health volunteer. In 2012, Marcia and her stepdaughter, Sara Rich, and Murutamanga Kabahita, founded EduCorps. Most recently, Marcia and Mr. Kabahita traveled to Rwanda and Congo to develop the infrastructure for a series of programs to launch in August 2014. Marcia was recognized by the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce with the 2009 Chairman’s Award for work in the promotion and stewardship of women in business. Marcia is a member of the T.C. Williams PTSA, the Del Ray Citizens Association, Bates College Alumni Association and Commonwealth Baptist Church.
Profiting from the examples set by her parents, Lonnie Rich and Sally Reams, Sara Rich began her civic activism in seventh grade when she successfully petitioned the school district and City Council for women’s softball fields equivalent to the men’s fields. After receiving a BA in history and a master’s degree in teaching at the University of Virginia in 2007, with the encouragement of Marcia, Sara began teaching at The American School of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). While there, Sara decided to pursue her interest in connecting international teachers with Congolese educators. In 2010, she moved to Goma in North Kivu, DRC, where she learned Swahili in order to explore the potential of collaboration between international and local teachers. Sara’s work there led to her co-founding of EduCorps. In addition to her work with EduCorps, Sara has worked at Coney Island Prep in Brooklyn, New York and St. John’s International School in Waterloo, Belgium. Sara intends to return to the U.S. in the fall of 2014.
The Generation to Generation Gala, while honoring these families, will also support the work of Senior Services of Alexandria. To purchase tickets, call 703-836-4414, ext. 10 or go online to www.seniorsservicesalex.org.