Business & Tech

Storage Village Raising Funds for Local Nonprofit

The fundraiser benefits Friends of Guest House and will continue until April 30.

is currently hosting a fundraiser to benefit the Alexandria-based nonprofit, Friends of Guest House (FOGH). The business is selling water bottles for $1 each at its Chantilly location through April 30 and all proceeds will go directly towards the organization.

FOGH serves women who have been released from jail and are classified as non-violent offenders. The organization offers food, counseling, employment assistance, medical care, transportation, clothes, hygiene products and other items that the women need to make a successful transition after jail.

JoAnna Goldberg, director of marketing for Storage Village, said she chose to partner with FOGH because it's a unique organization that focuses on an issue that is less addressed than hunger or homelessness. 

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FOGH Operations Assistant Melissa Phillips said the organizations clients are "real people with real issues."

FOGH offers three programs: residential, outreach and after-care. The residential program provides 10 beds for women who need assistance with re-entering society for three months and do not have a place to live.  The women are then placed into the after-care program if they need more assistance with finding housing and jobs which lasts six to nine months. The outreach program provides the same benefits as the residential program, without the housing.

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Phillips said that FOGH encourages its clients to be forward-thinkers focusing on "where they are and where they want to go."

Phillips added that the organization's success rate is 97%.  A client is considered a success is she has not been sent back to jail within one year of graduating from the program.

Although its current fundraiser with FOGH only lasts three months, Storage Village requires its employees to volunteer, and it works with local nonprofits, such as Western Fairfax County Ministries (WFCM), year-round.

When the company rents out one of its storage units, customers are charged $1 for the first month, plus three cans of food for WFCM.  In 2011, 600 pounds of food were collected from the Chantilly location.

Every November, Storage Village donates one Thanksgiving meal to WFCM for every storage unit rented for the month. Twenty meals were donated in 2011. The company also helps WFCM with collecting backpacks with school supplies over the summer and partners with Toys for Tots during the Christmas season.

"Our commitment to philanthropy is rooted in our gratitude for the communities that we live in," said Goldberg.  "It's always been a part of our business."

To get involved with the Friends of Guest House fundraiser, donors can drop donations into a collection box at Storage Village.


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