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Forty teams with 433 total participants are signed up so far to take part in the all-nighter at the George Mason High School football field in Falls Church this weekend, May 31-June 1. It’s the Relay for Life fundraiser that has already raised $54,251 for the American Cancer Society, as of last night. That was with three days to go to the event.
The inspirational event kicks off with the arrival of the participants at 6 p.m. Saturday and an opening ceremony. Each of the team members will take turns keeping their team running and walking on the track around the field throughout the night. The successful model is being used by the American Cancer Society all over the U.S. A similar event was held at Marshall High School, a mile from George Mason H.S., on May 17-18.
For Falls Church, this is the first major Relay for Life event, and organizers have been heartened by the level of response for the first time around. Cancer survivors, family and friends of those lost to cancer, and members of the general public have all pitched in for this weekend’s event. The newest team to sign on is called “Race For Rose,” and is made up of seventh grade stu-
The Falls Church City Council Tuesday gave a preliminary approval for one of the region’s most ambitious affordable housing projects, a new stand-alone 174-unit building adjacent the recently-approved City Center South redevelopment project. Over the next months, advisory boards and commissions, and the public, will review the project and its tax and other implications for Falls Church. It is not expected that a vote for final approval will come before late September. While there was dispute over how much the project would cost taxpayers in the City, everyone agreed it would cost something. “Affordable housing cannot happen anywhere without a public subsidy,” Howard Herman, general manager of the City’s Human Services Division, reminded the Council Tuesday. But an array of speakers who testified at the meeting, which continued until nearly midnight, spoke of the benefits of such a project, especially its proximity to the new City Center in terms of affordable housing for the 1,500 new employees projected to work at the center once completed. Two former mayors of Falls Church, Dan Gardner and Carol DeLong, were among the strong supporters of the project to speak up Tuesday. Others warned of the loss of the existing pool of affordable housing in the City, noting that 200 units have been lost to higher rents or renovations since 200, and another 600 are currently at risk. Current Mayor Robin
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