With coronavirus ravaging the country and changing daily life across the U.S., people everywhere have had to adapt. That holds true for nonprofit Britepaths, which does its best to help the community’s most vulnerable residents.

“We’ve been watching the news with great concern as cases of coronavirus rise,” said Britepaths Executive Director Lisa Whetzel. “With schools shuttering, work slowing and businesses grinding to a halt across the region, one of our biggest concerns is ensuring that our children – and their families – have the resources they need to weather this crisis at home.”

So, Britepaths is launching a new initiative called “Adjust, Give, Donate” to help them. “At a moment in time when our local region and the wider world are experiencing so many unknowns, we have decided to cancel our April 23 Artful Living fundraiser,” said Whetzel. “We must focus all our efforts on providing immediate relief to our extended family. This is our utmost priority right now.”

She explained that, as an organization, Britepaths needs to increase its capacity to help, because the families relying on it need this help now, more than ever. And the original Artful Living sponsors agreed. They’ve committed to transferring their support to Britepaths’ new campaign to help raise $100,000 in the next 30 days for the local community.

Area residents, businesses and other entities are also invited to “Adjust, Give and Donate” at https://britepaths.org/adjust-give. Or mail checks to Britepaths at 3959 Pender Drive, Suite 200, Fairfax, VA 22030. For more information, call Shannon Bryant at 703-273-8829.

“We are all in this together, adjusting to uncertain times,” said Whetzel. “Our families have little to help them adjust to this new normal – and countless obstacles to overcome. Donations from the community will increase our capacity to purchase emergency-food gift cards, secure and provide needed household supplies, or offer targeted financial assistance.”

“For the safety of our clients, staff and supporters, we are not accepting pantry/in-person donations, until further notice,” she continued. “However, we have a collective duty to take care of both ourselves and our community. People’s donations will help our local families in need, no matter what additional crises may arise as a result of the pandemic.”