How cool is it to have a Bond in our midst? And not just a movie character, but a real person who’s led a life of adventure and service for England and the United States, with exploits throughout the world.
In case you missed it, Ethan Bond’s remarkable life is profiled in our page one story, “Bond, Ethan Bond” in this week’s Times. Bond’s life of service continues with his upcoming deployment to Ukraine to help set up medical services and field hospitals in that war-ravaged country.
Another doer is Michelle Ruiz, the contributing writer who penned the Bond feature for the Times. Ruiz is a doer in her own right, who writes for publi- cations ranging from the New York Times to Vogue, and whose story on Giselle Bünchden – the first since the supermodel’s divorce from football GOAT Tom Brady – graces the cover of April’s Vanity Fair.
The Beiro family is also a clan of doers. In addition to running Beiro Construction, Andy Beiro, his wife Jean and many of their nine children have helped form and run the Beiro Family Foundation, which has funded charitable endeavors in Alexandria since the late 1990s – though the family’s support of the Alexandria Little League predates the foundation’s formation by more than two decades.
There have been many other longtime supporters of ALL, from Eugene Simpson to T.J. Fannon to Christine Garner. So while the Beiros are rightly being honored for their years of supporting youth sports in Alexandria, we salute everyone who currently or previously has sponsored youth sports in Alexandria.
And of course, since it’s April, it’s appropriate to look ahead to Alexandria’s biggest single day of giving, Spring2ACTion, sponsored each year by ACT for Alexandria. Next week, the Alexandria Times will be running a special section featuring nonprofits who participate in Spring2ACTion, which will be held this year on April 26.
This year will be the 13th year of Spring2ACTion, during which more than $18 million has been raised to support nonprofits in Alexandria. Since last year generated $2.6 million in donations to 172 different nonprofits; this year the cumulative total should rise to well past $20 million.
It’s important to remember that nonprofit organizations incur expenses throughout the year, and most rely largely on donations to pay their bills. Many people focus their charitable giving at the end of each year. But April is the perfect time to give your favorite nonprofit a boost.
If you’ve never participated in Spring2ACTion, this is your chance to join Alexandria’s collection of doers. Perhaps Ethan Bond is the only Alexandrian who can set up field hospitals in Ukraine. But the rest of us can join the Beiros in giving back right here.
