(Cadets from the Capital Guardian Youth Challenge Academy, who volunteered through Friends at the DCCX bike race, courtesy of In The Crosshairs and Bruce Buckley Photography.)
Friends of the Soldiers Home will mark its 200th volunteer event on Tuesday, Nov. 1 with a performance by the Georgetown Phantoms vocal group, along with pizza, beer and cake, at Armed Forces Retirement Home-Washington. The milestone follows a busy October in which Friends held five volunteer activities, ending with participation in the Halloween Happy Hour at the Home on Oct. 25.
The month also included a Friends Hospitality Tent for Soldiers Home residents at the DCCX bike race Oct. 23, bowling night with residents Oct. 18, Jingo Night Oct. 13 and Saloon Night With Friends Oct. 4. The Nov. 1 event will come nine days before Friends celebrates the fifth anniversary of its founding. Along with the re-occurring monthly events, the 200 volunteer activities have included 12 community festivals such as July 4 and Fall Fun Fest, five bus trips for residents to off-campus events, and two special concert performances on campus. (See full list of 200 after the jump below.)
Friends is grateful to residents and AFRH-W staff for extending a warm welcome for all these events; to festival sponsors, including Anheuser-Busch, Annie’s Hardware and Crossfit Petworth; and to community partners including Nam Knights Capital Chapter, Points of Light, President Lincoln’s Cottage and Creative Minds International Public Charter School. Above all, Friends thanks the hundreds of volunteers, many who return again and again, for making this success story possible! You are all the best and none of this would have been possible without you!
Note: Photo of cadets from the Capital Guardian Youth Challenge Academy, who volunteered through Friends at the DCCX bike race, is courtesy of In The Crosshairs and Bruce Buckley Photography. All other photos of October events are by Reyn Anderson and John Hughes.

Full list of the 200 events after the jump Continue reading →