Fox Mill Elementary Students Raise Thousands for Local Homeless

Fox Mill Elementary students helped take a bite out of local homelessness recently when they raised thousands of dollars for Cornerstones through the school's Walk to End Homelessness.

In the school's eighth annual walk on Oct. 17, Fox Mill students, teachers and families raised a total of $6,235 for Cornerstones (formerly Reston Interfaith).

This year's walk was organized by the Fox Mill PTA and backed by Fannie Mae.

Organizers said, in addition to raising funds for the homeless, the purpose of the annual event is to raise awareness that residents of the greater Herndon area have homeless people living among them.

"The majority of the homeless in our community are families and many work full time," school representatives said. "Close to 60 percent of homeless persons are in families, more than 75 percent of children in homeless families are under the age of 11, and nearly 60 percent of adults in homeless families work."

The walk was the end of a week dedicated to learning more about homelessness in the area, including portions of the days' morning announcements devoted to sharing facts, and members of the Student Council visiting the Embry Rucker Community Shelter and bringing back information to share with fellow students.

All walkers received t-shirts, bearing a special illustration—a picture created by Fox Mill fourth-grader Kaylyn Siegfreid, the winner of Fannie Mae's art competition. Kaylyn's work of art will be used in marketing materials by Fannie Mae throughout the country.

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