5 Vienna Nonprofits To Support This Holiday Season

VIENNA, VA — If you’re like many of your Vienna neighbors, you may spend a good part of the holiday season with your credit card in hand buying gifts for family and friends. Coming up soon is a chance to give back to the local community.

Giving Tuesday, which in 2024 falls on Dec. 3, is a day dedicated to supporting nonprofit and community groups. Since 2012, nonprofits worldwide have used the Tuesday after Thanksgiving to galvanize fundraising, rally volunteers and add momentum to their causes.

Maintaining funding is a constant challenge for many nonprofits that fill gaps and meet other needs in the Vienna area.

Here are five local nonprofits to consider getting behind on Giving Tuesday:

1. Committee for Helping Others (CHO): Emergency food assistance is provided by CHO in the service areas of Vienna, Oakton, Dunn Loring and Merrifield. Other services include emergency financial assistance, clothing, Meals on Wheels and transportation.

2. Belong: Belong is a faith-based organization providing mentoring and educational programs to children in need. In addition to financial contribution, the nonprofit accepts volunteers.

3. Wolf Trap Animal Rescue: This rescue seeks to save animals from euthanasia, neglect and abuse, especially from the south. The nonprofit is veterinary led, so animals receive top veterinary care and spay or neuter before adoption.

4. Vienna Volunteer Fire Department: This longtime volunteer fire department provides staffing support to supplement Fairfax County Fire and Rescue. Volunteers serve operational, administrative, and auxiliary roles. The department also holds various events throughout the year, such as Taste of Vienna and Santa visits.

5. SPARC: SPARC, which stands for Specially Adapted Resource CEnters, provides day programs for adults with disabilities. It has six locations in Northern Virginia and is based at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Vienna.

For more ways to help nonprofits in Vienna, check out the Vienna Business Association's directory of nonprofits and Volunteer Fairfax's ongoing list of volunteer opportunities.