Food Uniting Neighbors (FUN) receives grant

FUN is happy to announce that it has been awarded a Quality-of-Life grant of $9,776 from the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. The Quality-of-Life Grants Program supports nonprofit organizations that empower individuals living with paralysis.

FUN will use the grant for the installation of paved pathways to create a barrier-free, fully inclusive vegetable garden at their Bee Happy site, First Christian Church, 6165 Leesburg Pike. By providing accessible paths along with high-sided raised beds, FUN can offer volunteering opportunities for individuals living with paralysis and mobility limitations.

FUN was founded by local activists Sarah Shannon and Renée Miceli to establish vegetable gardens and food forests to provide fresh produce to local food pantries. In doing so, FUN brought together neighborhoods and communities to address food insecurity through education and empowerment.

Sarah is a member of the Bailey’s Crossroads Rotary Club (BXRC) in Falls Church. “BXRC originally gave us the funds to begin the garden at First Christian Church (Falls Church) and as a proud Rotarian, I was thrilled to accept this as without (their) support this would have remained only an idea,” said Sarah