THE ARLINGTON LIFE

Here’s an easy way that you can help to stamp out hunger. This Saturday, May 11, bag healthy non-perishable food items and place them by your mailbox before mail delivery. You may have already received a blue Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive bag in your mailbox. Your letter carrier will pick up the bag and deliver it to local food banks in your community.

In Arlington, VA, the food will go to the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC), which distributes groceries, directly and free of charge, to people living in Arlington who cannot afford to purchase enough food to meet their basic needs. This year, AFAC hopes to collect 30,000 pounds of healthy non-perishable foods from Arlington residents.

AFAC is one of my favorite local charities, and I have supported them for many years.

Food also is being accepted at Arlington Public Library branches and in the lobbies of Arlington’s Main, North, South, Shirlington and Westover post offices through May 17.

According to AFAC, the foods that are needed most include:

• Low sugar cereal
• Low sodium canned tomato products (diced, paste, or sauce)
• Low sodium canned tuna
• Low sodium canned soups
• Low sodium canned beans

The timing of the food drive is important, with food banks, pantries and shelters running low on donations from the winter holidays and with summer approaching, when most school meal programs are suspended. While hunger might not seem to be an issue in a wealthy county like Arlington, VA, some 2,300 families come to AFAC for food assistance every week.

The National Association of Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger^® Food Drive is the country’s largest single-day food drive.

Please join me in helping those in need.

The 7th Annual Arlington Festival of the Arts, a two-day juried outdoor art exhibit, returns to the Clarendon area of Arlington, VA, on Saturday, April 13, and Sunday, April 14, 2019, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

More than 150 artists, who were selected by a panel of judges, will show off their works along Washington Boulevard, Clarendon Boulevard and North Highland Street.

The festival features a wide area of media including paintings, contemporary and whimsical art, sculptures, photography, handcrafted jewelry, ceramics and much more. Admission to the festival is free.

And of course, being in Clarendon, there are variety outdoor dining and drinking options available including the patios at Ambar, Liberty Tavern, Lyon Hall, Obey Lee Winery and Pamplona, among many others.

To learn more visit ArtFestival.com.

I visited a sobering but beautiful Arlington art exhibit at American Legion Post 139 last night that raises awareness about veteran suicides. You can still see it tonight, Wednesday, March 20, at the Post, 3445 Washington Blvd., Arlington, VA..

The illuminated display “22-13” by artist Scott LoBaido depicts a pair of twos facing each other covered in an American flag design, in which the white stripes feature a collage of all the wars the U.S. has participated in. The opposing numbers twos create an empty heart between them. The base includes 22 pairs of empty boots and it is surrounded by 22 life-size figures that represent the 22 veterans who take their own lives each and every day.

LoBaido says he writes the number 22 in the palm of his hand every single day to remind him of their sacrifices. LoBaido, of New York, also painted the flag mural on the Post 139’s wall as part of his “Painting Flags Across America” tour.

The Post offers support and sponsors community programs and services to local veterans. And the Post will soon be replaced with a new building with 160 affordable apartments with half set aside for veterans.

For more information about the artwork and the artist, visit LoBaido’s website.