RESTON CHALLENGE DONATES $5,500 TO 4PAWS

Two Thousand People Enjoy Beer, Bean Bags, and Music to Support Local Cat Charity
at Lake Anne Plaza in Reston

Reston, VA – June 25, 2012 – Reston Challenge hosted their 2012 Spring Festival, an all-day festival of games, music, food and drinks, on Saturday, May 12 to raise money for the 4Paws Rescue Team (www.fourpaws.org). Two thousand people gathered at Reston’s Lake Anne Farmer’s Market to compete in a cornhole tournament, a raffle, and groove to the sounds of music sponsor Bach 2 Rock’s multiple bands.

Reston Challenge raised $5,500 for the 4Paws Rescue Team of Merrifield, a nonprofit community-based all volunteer organization that takes in neglected, abandoned, abused and unwanted cats and kittens in VA, Maryland and Washington DC. Additionally, 4Paws is dedicated to supporting the management of populations and improving the health of feral cat colonies.

Prizes were awarded to the raffle winners as well as the tournament’s winners. Jared Egger and Jeff LaTour took first place and won a prize pack of $500 in gift cards from local shops and restaurants, while Aaron Stocks and Kris Petren received the runner up prize pack of $200 in gift cards.

According to 4Paws Rescue Team president, Barbara Lipson, “We can’t express enough gratitude to the Reston Challenge organizers to help homeless cats. In one year’s time, the $5,500 they raised will allow 4Paws to spay enough cats to prevent the births of 300 kittens. In seven year’s time, one female cat and her offspring can produce almost 500,000 kittens. Spaying and neutering is the only viable way to end the needless suffering and unnecessary deaths caused by pet overpopulation.”

In the beginning of each year, Reston Challenge holds a public poll through their website and Facebook to collect votes to determine the recipient charity for the year. In 2012, over 1,500 votes were collected and donations of $100 each went out to Reston Historic Trust, Duffy House, and Melwood as the runner-up charities. Reston Challenge is now accepting applications for next year’s community charity vote. Applications are available at http://www.restonchallenge.org and applicants must be a local charity with local reach to qualify.

Reston Challenge Chairman Harris Eisenberg explained, “The reason we do this is to support the community in multiple ways. By helping local charities, working with local businesses, and keeping the money raised local, it makes Reston a better place. What better way than to do good while having a beer, listening to great music, and tossing a bean bag.”

Additional credit includes the Reston Jaycees for co-organizing, Dan Shank at United Social Sports for organizing the cornhole tournament, Eve Thompson and the entire Lake Anne Community, Rande Jenus at the Wine Cabinet, Linda Johnson at Guiffre Distribution, Reston’s Founding Father Bob Simon, and Bach 2 Rock’s bands: Diamond Dolls, SugarRush, Circlebox, Deadhawks, The Crew, B2R Herndon GLEE Club, Herndon Rubber Band, Last Chance, Sidd, More or Less, Out of Line, Mostly Everything, and Healthy Addiction.

Nicholas Hartigan, President of Reston Challenge, stated “It’s about being part of my community and living up to the Reston ideology. I live and work here, but having fun while making a difference for my family, friends, and the community is really what drives me. This year’s fundraising goal was to raise $3,000 with a ‘reach’ goal of $5,000. Reston Challenge ended up surpassing even that and was able to give $5,500 to 4Paws.”

Nicholas continued, saying, “We were successful because of how committed 4Paws, the Reston Jaycees, and the volunteers were in supporting us. It simply would not have been such a success without them.”

About Reston Challenge

Reston Challenge, Inc. is a 501(c)3 nonprofit charity organization that holds an annual event to raise money for a local charity, build community, and to have fun doing it. 2010’s event was a scavenger hunt and trivia challenge and proceeds were donated to the Alzheimer’s Association of the National Capital Area. 2012’s event was the Spring Festival featuring microbrews and a cornhole tournament and proceeds were donated to the 4Paws Rescue Team. 2013’s event announcement will be made within the upcoming months. Visit http://www.restonchallenge.org for more information and become a fan on the Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/restonchallenge.

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Local Businessmen Drop the Ball

Reston, VA – January 1, 2012 –

In October of 2011, Reston Challenge, Inc. was forced to cancel its Fall Festival to benefit the 4Paws Rescue Team. The “rain or shine” event was called off two days ahead of its scheduled date of Saturday, October 29th due to extreme and unexpected weather. The event’s organizers learned some harsh lessons about event planning and are working to recoup their efforts and reorganize. The event is not wholly lost, however, as it has been rescheduled for Saturday, May 12, 2012, and redubbed the Spring Festival.

The Spring Festival will feature all of the events that were previously scheduled for the Fall. These events include a Corn Hole (bean bag toss) Tournament, scavenger hunt, live music, informational sessions, as well as beer from featured regional microbrewers and food from local restaurants.

“The snowstorm that happened on October 29th caught us completely off guard,” says Nicholas Hartigan, Reston Challenge President. “We wanted to hold the event regardless of weather, but this was just unprecedented and had we held the festival, the venue would not have allowed us to use any equipment. We have nothing but our sincerest apologies for our sponsors and for the people planning to attend. It’s just our luck that the only snowstorm of the year happened right on our event day. The real shame is that everyone was ready to hold the event the next day, but Virginia ABC laws prevented us from hosting the event on any other date.”

He added, “The good news is that we have really learned a lot from this and are honoring all donations and sponsorships for the Spring Festival.”

Harris Eisenberg, Chairman of the Board for Reston Challenge added to Hartigan’s sentiment, “We’re the kind of guys who get excited about an idea and just jump into something feet first. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t—this was definitely one that did not work as planned. But, we learn from our mistakes. The Spring Festival gives us the chance to hold a bigger, better, and more successful event and we can’t wait to announce some of the new improvements that we’re working on.”

Eisenberg continued to describe what they learned, “Nicholas and I are both PMP-certified project managers and we treat this like any other major project. Part of that process is to make lessons learned our first order of business. We’ve already discussed issues like communication, event-day planning, contingencies, getting an early start, and others as areas where we are focusing for improvement. If we don’t maintain our own structure for Reston Challenge, there’s no one else who will.”

Featured partners Bach to Rock, Lake Anne Plaza, Reston Jaycees, and 4Paws Rescue Team will be returning for the Spring Festival in May. Those who registered for the Corn Hole Tournament, whose registration fees were refunded, will have the opportunity to re-register for the Spring Tournament.

Reston Challenge will retain and honor all sponsorships and donations made to the organization in 2011 for the Spring Festival. In addition to what was planned for the fall, with an additional five months of planning time, the Spring Festival will have more exhibitors, more brewers, and more activities. The Spring Festival will also have a rain date—just in case of heavy spring rain or snowstorms.

The 4Paws Rescue Team, the charity selected last June by popular community vote, is a nonprofit community-based all volunteer organization that takes in neglected, abandoned, abused and unwanted cats and kittens. Cats rescued by 4Paws receive vaccines and appropriate veterinary care before being adopted into permanent, loving homes. An animal rescued by 4Paws will never be euthanized except out of medical necessity.

Reston Challenge, Inc. is a 501(c)3 nonprofit charity organization that holds an annual event to raise money for a local charity, build community, and to have fun doing it. 2010’s event was a scavenger hunt and trivia challenge and proceeds were donated to the Alzheimer’s Association of the National Capital Area. Mark your calendars for the spring event to be held at Lake Anne Plaza in Reston on Saturday, May 12. Visit http://www.restonchallenge.org for more information and become a fan on the Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/restonchallenge.

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Reston Challenge Selects Venue for 2011 Fall Festival

Reston, VA – July 11, 2011 – Reston Challenge, Inc. is announcing the venue for its 2011 Fall Festival, to be held on Saturday, October 29, 2011. The 2011 Fall Festival will feature local microbrewers offering tastings and pints of their latest craftings, great food from local restaurants, a battle of the bands featuring acts from around the community, a scavenger hunt, and more. All proceeds from the event will be donated to 4Paws, a local community-based all volunteer organization that takes in neglected, abandoned, abused and unwanted cats and kittens. The Fall Festival will be held in the heart of Reston, at the historic Lake Anne Plaza.

“Lake Anne represents the very first village in Reston, which itself is the very first planned community in America,” says Nicholas Hartigan, Reston Challenge President. “Since the spirit of Reston Challenge and the Fall Festival is to celebrate all things local, we couldn’t think of a better spot to hold the event than the place that represents the very essence of what Reston stands for. With the view of the lake, nearby local businesses, and the fall foliage, this is going to be an outstanding venue for a great event.”

Harris Eisenberg, Reston Challenge Chairman of the Board, described the planning of the 2011 event, “The Planning Committee for the 2011 Reston Challenge event has been working hard these past few months to line up the charity, local restaurants and brewers, volunteers, and logistics. We are working hard to ensure that our lineup of activities is going to give everyone a great day of fun while raising money for a worthy cause. The Committee is already working on the details for the Battle of the Bands, Scavenger Hunt, and Corn Hole Tournament, among others, that will really round out what will already be a really awesome day.” 2010’s event was a scavenger hunt and trivia challenge at the Reston Town Center that had nearly 75 participants. Proceeds from that event were donated to the Alzheimer’s Association of the National Capital Area.

Reston Challenge, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that holds an annual event to raise money for a local charity, build community, and to have fun doing it. This year’s event is the 2011 Fall Festival and will be held at Lake Anne Plaza in Reston, Virginia on Saturday, October 29. All proceeds from the event will be donated to the 4Paws Rescue Team. Additional details on the Fall Festival will be periodically released on the Reston Challenge web site. Visit http://www.restonchallenge.org for more information and become a fan on the Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/restonchallenge.

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Reston Challenge Announces 2011 Charity Recipient

Reston, VA – July 11, 2011 – Reston Challenge, Inc. has concluded its 2011 charity survey to determine the recipient of this year’s proceeds. Each year, Reston Challenge selects a local charity to receive all of the profits from its fundraising event and this year implemented a survey to poll the community to determine who would be the 2011 partner. The survey produced nearly 2000 responses across the candidates: Reston Historic Trust, 4Paws, Duffy House, Melwood, Cherry Blossom Breast Cancer Foundation, and Camp Virginia Jaycee. The winner of the 2011 charity survey is 4Paws with 709 votes.
The 4Paws Rescue Team is a nonprofit community-based all volunteer organization that takes in neglected, abandoned, abused and unwanted cats and kittens. Cats rescued by 4Paws receive vaccines and appropriate veterinary care before being adopted into permanent, loving homes. An animal rescued by 4Paws will never be euthanized except out of medical necessity.
“Reston Challenge is extremely proud to partner with such a great organization with such a worthy mission,” says Nicholas Hartigan, Reston Challenge founder and President. Chairman of the Board, Harris Eisenberg added, “We are all animal lovers here at Reston Challenge and so it makes us very happy to be able to work with a cause like that at 4Paws.”
The survey runner up was Melwood, an organization that helps to create opportunity for people with disabilities. They received 466 votes. Reston Historic Trust and Duffy House also received significant votes as well. Reston Challenge has also committed to donating $100 to each nonprofit participating in the charity survey that received at least 50 votes from the community.
Reston Challenge, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that holds an annual event to raise money for a local charity, build community, and to have fun doing it. Official details of the 2011 event will be announced later this month. Mark your calendars for the fall event to be held in Reston on Saturday, October 29,. Last year’s event was a scavenger hunt and trivia challenge and proceeds were donated to the Alzheimer’s Association of the National Capital Area. Visit http://www.restonchallenge.org for more information and become a fan on the Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/restonchallenge.

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Reston Challenge Launches 2011 Event Preparations

Reston, VA – June 1, 2011 – Reston Challenge, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, has announced its preparations for their October 29, 2011 fundraising event. Each year, the Reston Challenge chooses a local, charitable organization who will receive all the profits from the event. 2010’s recipient was the Alzheimer’s Association of the National Capital Area and now the Reston Challenge is reaching out to the community to help determine this year’s recipient.

During a recent board meeting that kicked off 2011’s planning efforts, founder and Reston Challenge President, Nicholas Hartigan described the new process for choosing the charity. “My own family is heavily affected by Alzheimer’s and so that guided our choice for last year’s recipient. This year, we really want to involve our community in this decision. To do this, we are making a survey available to everyone who visits our web site and Facebook page. Last year’s donation was $1,000. This year, we’re hoping to raise ten times that amount.”

The Board of Directors also discussed improvements for this year’s Reston Challenge event including a thorough review of the feedback from 2010. “We have carefully gone through each and every feedback form from last year’s event and are making some big changes to make 2011 even better,” says Harris Eisenberg, Reston Challenge Chairman of the Board. “Last year was our inaugural event, which was a huge scavenger hunt and trivia contest across the Reston Town Center and had over 70 people participate. In addition to some planned improvements, we are going to make this year’s event a bigger, better experience for everyone. We encourage people to check our web site often for some upcoming announcements that are sure to be exciting!”

This year’s Reston Challenge starts June 1 and will kick off by challenging local charities to get as many votes as they can on the Reston Challenge Beneficiary Survey. Reston Challenge has committed to donating $100 to every beneficiary that gets at least 50 votes before the survey closes on June 30th.

The Reston Challenge is featured in the June issue of Northern Virginia Magazine. Possible beneficiaries of this year’s event include Reston Historic Trust, 4 Paws Rescue Team, Duffy House, Melwood, Cherry Blossom Foundation, and Camp Virginia Jaycee. The more people that know about, participate in, or connect with the Reston Challenge, the more money that can be raised and donated to local charities. Anyone interested in participating in the survey or looking for more information can visit the Reston Challenge web site at http://www.restonchallenge.org or the Reston Challenge Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/restonchallenge.

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<<< Read About Other Beneficiaries

The Foundation’s three year objective is to annually raise and grant $1,000,000.00.

Grants 2010: Total $141,000.00
-3 B’s Foundation: $3,000 for supplies to provide baskets for women coming out of breast cancer surgeries at Loudoun and Fauquier hospitals.
-Blue Ridge Hospice: $5,000 for end of life care.
-Casting for the Cure-Breast Cancer Program: $2,000 to fund two survivors’ participation in a therapeutic fly fishing expedition.
-Cherry Blossom Education Program: $6,000 for an education program, of which $1,000 is granted to Breast Cancer Network of Strength for coordinated presentations.
-Fauquier Hospital: $20,000, of which $10,000 funds women at up to 300% of the Federal Poverty Limit for screening or diagnostic mammograms and $10,000 funds the salary of a Cancer Navigator staff position.
-Georgetown Lombardi Cancer Center: $15,000 for a Circulating Tumor Cell research project.
-Inova Loudoun Hospital: $75,000 ($25,000 and a two year $50,000 pledge) for the hospital’s first stereotactic biopsy machine.
-Loudoun Community Health Center: $15,000 to pay 50% of the cost of biopsies and surgeries for uninsured and underinsured women.
Our breast cancer work was organized and began in January 2007 in memory of Cheryl Clayton Atkins, the “Cherry Blossom,” who passed away from the effects of breast cancer. Her wish was that her family would make life better for those that followed her.

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Melwood directly employs over 800 people with disabilities through service contracts, and was recently awarded two large contracts that will provide jobs for at least an additional 60 people with disabilities. Economic benefit studies show that when people with disabilities become employed, significant numbers reduce or entirely eliminate their reliance on government assistance to which they are entitled, and considerably increase their income tax payments. Those studies estimate the government’s yearly savings at $4,150-$6,918 per person, depending on the occupation.

Using these estimates, workers employed by Melwood on service contracts saved the government more than $5.5 million, collectively earned more than $13 million and paid $2.7 million in taxes last year.

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The Duffy Project is a 501c3 non-profit dedicated to helping women and children of all races and creeds to live a safe, healthy and productive life. The Duffy Project provides services to help women and children who are living in Domestic Violence situations and survivors of Sexual Violence to rebuild their lives. Safe housing for families of Domestic Violence is limited due to the overwhelming need. The Duffy Project is dedicated to building The Duffy House.
Services we currently provide to survivors:
• Temporary Shelter for emergency situations
• Court and System Advocacy – Legal guidance
• Individual and Group Counseling
• Job Training and Resume Building
• Clothing and household items
• Children’s Advocacy
• Children’s Counseling
• Alternative Healing

The Duffy House was created and founded by Christine Eads, mother, sister, daughter, on-air radio talk show host and sexual assault survivor. During her tragic ordeal, she discovered the need to help other women who had experienced the same tragedy as herself. She was fortunate to have the love and support of family and friends during her recovery, but realized that not all women had the support they needed to heal from such a tragedy. The Co-Founder of The Duffy House, Michelle Gates, is a survivor of Domestic Violence. She was fortunate to have a safe place to escape her abusive relationship and now, as a mother of two girls, would like to see Domestic Violence come to an end. Together, Christine and Michelle created The Duffy Project to help even more women in crisis.

Our Vision: To make certain as many women and children as possible that are in need of a safe environment from violence and abuse, are provided with the protection, tools and education they need to heal, grow and move on with their lives with the confidence and ability to accomplish their dreams.

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<<< Read About Other Beneficiaries