Mod Pizza Fundraiser -- Pizza Your Way!
(* NOTICE * Date updated!)
On Tuesday, February 22nd, Mod Pizza will be hosting a fundraiser for us ALL DAY LONG!
Where: The Mod Pizza in the Plaza America Shopping Center: 11642 Plaza America Drive, Reston VA 20190
When: Tuesday, February 22nd from 10:30AM-10:00PM
What: A fundraiser where you get your delicious, fully customized pizza, and your school gets 20% of what you pay!
How: You an order in store, through the Mod Pizza App, or directly on the website! Whether or not you do sit in or carry out, it counts! If you are ordering online, make sure to use the code MODF2789. If you are ordering in person make sure to show this flyer! Please note: ordering through apps like UberEats, DoorDash, etc WILL NOT COUNT toward the fundraiser!
Why: Mod Pizza has a pizza for everyone. Each pizza is lovingly created with your preferences, style, and dietary needs in mind! It is fun and scrumptious for the whole family! Which is why it is absolutely perfect for a Common Ground Community Fundraiser. Help us celebrate our 50th Birthday this year by helping us earn funding for our mission to lift early childhood educators up and provide living wages!
Friends of CG Fridays: Just Cats Clinic
Just Cats Clinic has been caring for our cats like they’re family since 2013. Now, when we need them the most, they have opened an Urgent Care clinic with extended hours.
Website I Contact Info and Hours I Directions
Dr. Elizabeth Chapmen started the Just Cats Clinic in order to offer your cat a personalized, comfortable experience for your cat in a stressful time.
Every person employed goes through cat-specific trainings so they are familiar with feline behaviors and handling. They are flexible and change their procedure based on each individual cats needs and temperament. From ample natural light, to windows with bird feeder views, to hiding places in every room… this will truly feel like a sanctuary for your cat.
Working with animals is a labor of love, and the veterinary community as a whole has been pushing itself to the brink to keep our animals safe.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic started, vets all over the country have suffered from staff shortages. Along with sickness and quarantines, the field is primarily women. When schools were closed or primarily online, many women left their careers to take care of their children.
For the first time in 20 years you can’t just go to an emergency vet. Imagine your animal is in trouble, you call their doctor, and they have to check to see which emergency vets might have space.
There are a lot of patients that NEED to be seen, but are not a life or death emergency. They are in pain, or vomiting, but would be turned away because the number of more urgent patients was just too high.
Dr. Elizabeth started an emergency clinic on January 1st to help mitigate this problem. Just Cats Clinic will do same day urgent care appointments for ANYone with a cat in need, whether or not they are a patient. They are not an emergency vet, but can help diagnose, stabilize, and take care of your beloved pet, and help you find a space in an emergency vet while they do so if it is necessary.
Help Common Ground Childcare show some love to our local heroes! If you or someone you know has a cat they adore, bring them to the place where you know their doctors will love them as much as you do.
Friends of CG Fridays: Hero Pediatric Dentistry
If you participated in our THANKSGIVING STUFFY SLEEPOVER, then you got an incredibly thoughtful, thorough SWAG BAG from our personal dental heroes, HERO PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY!! They are thoughtful, warm, insightful, and amazingly CLEVER!
Check out this HILARIOUS and informative video they made where they show us how to take care of our stuffy friends’ teeth!
HERO PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY VIDEO
Our teeth are so very important, and developing good habits to take care of ourselves begins at birth like all learning!
Consider these brushing basics:
Brush your teeth twice a day.
Use the proper equipment. Use a fluoride toothpaste and a soft-bristled toothbrush that fits your mouth comfortably.
Practice good technique. Hold your toothbrush at a slight angle — aiming the bristles toward the area where your tooth meets your gum. Gently brush with circular short back-and-forth motions. Brushing too hard or with hard bristles can hurt your gums.
Brush your teeth for two minutes. Remember to brush the outside, inside and chewing surfaces of your teeth, as well as your tongue.
Keep your equipment clean. Always rinse your toothbrush with water after brushing. Store your toothbrush in an upright position and allow it to air-dry until using it again.
Know when to replace your toothbrush. At least every 3 months!
See the dentist twice a year. Start taking your kiddos to the dentist around age 1! A lot of people talk about “baby teeth” like they don’t matter, but oral health is KEY to a happy, healthy life!
Why Hero Pediatric Dentistry?
Hero Pediatric Dentistry has a new location in Herndon! You should always take your kid to a pediatric dentist because they are specialized in kid care! They know all about growing teeth and gums, and know just how to make sure the dentist is not only a healthy experience, but a FUN one. We trust our friends at Hero Pediatric Dentistry implicitly, and recommend them for our students!
Tell us about your experience with them in the comments! We only wish we were young enough to get our teeth cleaned next to a green dinosaur…
Your CG Family
Friends of CG Fridays!: Dryer Vent Wizard and Mr. Appliance
Hello Everyone!
It’s been awhile, so for this FRIENDS OF CG FRIDAY we are featuring TWO of our best company friends as a special treat!
DRYER VENT WIZARD and MR. APPLIANCE came to save the day for us a few weeks ago and we wanted to brag on them.
Do you remember a few months ago when we wrote about how to vacuum out your dryer vent? Ms. Liz is very handy in a pinch! While this was a good temporary fix, you really should make sure that you hire a professional to completely clean our your dryer.
A few weeks ago we had a little snafu with both our washer and our dryer simultaneously. We wanted to make sure our littles’ linens were getting the best care possible as QUICKLY as possible, so we shopped around and found Dryer Vent Wizard and Mr. Appliance.
Dryer Vent Wizard came in and took extra care to assess the situation! While we had cleared out all the dryer lint for aways down the vent, we didn’t realize how far it extended! Especially with the vaulted church roof. Our technician gave it a full examination, explained the issues, and gave us a fair price. He also got the job done super quickly, and we haven’t had issues since!
Mr. Appliance helped us diagnose our washer! Full disclosure… we were overloading it with items and soap. Our technician let us know that, since that was our primary issue, he would just give it a good examination and tune up, no reason to get too expensive. We appreciate honesty! (and guidance from a pro)
YES! This recommendation isn’t glamorous! But since most of us deal with laundry every single day, we thought this one was helpful, ESPECIALLY since summer is right around the corner… stay tuned for our TEACHER TIPS on grass stains and other pesky clothing ailments!
Love, Love, Love,
LJ and your CG Family!
Friends of CG Fridays: Kona Ice of North Fairfax!
Kona Ice of North Fairfax Facebook Page
Order “Kurbside” from Steve and Natalia of North Fairfax
Booking Requests for Kona Ice in Fairfax County
We do not have enough nice things to say about our Local Kona Ice Truck heroes, Steve and Natalia Hammond. Whenever we need them to make an event more magical (or just a hot day cooler) they show up ready to help us celebrate. Natalia even drives the truck herself over to see us in our parking lot to make sure we get the best care!
What is Kona Ice?
Kona Ice is a MOBILE DESSERT FOOD TRUCK that serves shaved ice in a variety of technicolor flavors! You can find them at events, you can invite them to YOUR event, and you can order curbside deliciousness from your local truck! We cannot get enough of it over here.
We have a lot of children and teachers with varying allergies, and Kona Ice makes sure we can include EVERYONE! They are Gluten-Free, Fat-Free, Nut-Free, Dairy-Free, Lactose-Free. No GMO’s, No HFC’s. You can even get sugar-free if you need to! It really makes everyone smile, which is our goal here at Common Ground, and why we treasure Steve and Natalia’s steadfast commitment to customer joy!
We are writing about them TODAY specifically because, on this first truly warm Friday of Spring here at Common Ground, they came to celebrate with us!! They helped us make sure every and teacher got a tasty treat and did not break the bank! If there is a better way to ring in Spring break, I haven’t seen it yet… We hope to have them over many times this summer to make our camp days extra special.
Natalia, you are an absolute gem, we loved having you today and so appreciate all you and Steve do for us!
Help us support them! Look into booking a Kona-Ice truck for any of your socially distant activities, and recommend them to anyone around who could use a treat with a smile-guarantee.
Love Love Love,
Your CG Family
Earth Hour: A Moment to Pause and Reflect
Saturday, March 27th at 8:30 PM local time is Earth Hour.
What is Earth Hour?
Traditionally, global skylines have gone dark and millions of individuals have turned off their lights for Earth Hour as a symbolic gesture to their commitment to preserving our planet.
EarthHour.Org encourages people to participate in the hopes to keep nature loss and climate change top of mind. It is that mindfulness and reflection that will encourage people of every generation to stop and reflect on the lovely fragility of this earth that holds the entirety of our past, our present, and our future.
The World Wildlife Post is hosting a meditative hour for peace and mindfulness Here. You can sign up for text reminders Here.
Reflection may be an important step, but it’s just the FIRST step. There are so many things you can do, even as an individual, to change the world for the better.
Educate Yourself
Earth Hour has links on Nature Loss and Biodiversity, Climate Change, and Potential Solutions Here
World Wildlife Fund has several excellent links on what’s at stake, what needs to change, and how we can help Here
Nasa talks about the proof of Climate Change Here
COTAP.org talks about several ways to reduce your Carbon Footprint Here
The Rainforest Alliance offers tips on how to teach your kids about Climate Change Here
One Planet One Future has a video lesson series coming out that you can watch Here
SCRAWL BOOKS has a whole section on Science and Nature for Kids Here
Sign Petitions and Donate
Earth Hour has its pledge for educating others and finding greener ways to live Here
World Wildlife Fund has a ton of excellent petitions to go through Here and several ways to donate Here
GLOBAL DEAL FOR NATURE PETITION HERE
TWENTY GLOBAL NON-PROFITS PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT YOU CAN DONATE TO HERE
#GiveFundsGiveTime is a motto we came up with during our Giving Tuesday event last year, but we find that the concept behind it is one we want to keep top of mind ALL year long. If you don’t have the funds to donate, spend time educating yourself and others! Every time you pass on knowledge to someone, they pass it on to someone else. These good deeds ripple out. You may be one person, but one person spreading their love can change the world.
With Love,
Ms. LJ and your Common Ground Family
Friends of CG Fridays!: True Mover
HURRAY! IT’S TIME FOR OUR “FEATURED FRIENDS OF CG” FRIDAY!
This week we are bragging on someone who LITERALLY and FIGURATIVELY moved us with their professionalism, kindness, and flawless work ethic.
True Mover in Sterling — Chris and Robert will take care of you.
TrueMover is a small family of local movers born out of a passion for hard work. Their team was entirely raised in Northern Virginia, and everyone there has known one another since the days of High School sports. When asked if they enjoy the work, they said:
“It is a great blessing to be physically active every day with people that we love!”
True Mover serves all of Northern Virginia, but can and do move nationwide regularly. They offer full service moving and storage, and their warehouse is right down the street from us in Sterling, Virginia!
Our Story with True Mover
The year 2020 was stressful the world over. But here at Common Ground, the stress started a little earlier that year, and for reasons completely unrelated to the Covid-19 pandemic.
After a year-long experiment we realized we had to recombine the Common Ground Wiehle-Metro location and the Common Ground Wainwright location. Our Honeybee and Turtle Kindergarten classrooms suddenly had to be at home AND comfortable in the Great Hall, a space that had to be completely cleared and refilled every single week so that weekend groups could use the space.
We were tight on space, funds, time, and energy.
Enter our friends at True Mover.
They loaned us durable plastic storage boxes for all of our Wiehle-Metro classroom supplies.
Once everything was packed up and appropriately labeled they made quick work of emptying that center.
They took all of the essential classroom boxes to the Wainwright location and took all of the “storage boxes” into a very reasonably priced storage unit in Sterling.
They allowed us a week with the storage boxes to unpack all of our classroom items carefully in the Wainwright location.
The most incredible part was: they helped us every Friday night to empty out the Great Hall Room and reload it with all of the furniture in the right places on Sunday night. Every week. One company of movers basically solved 90% of our problems.
January and February of 2020 were really hard months. There was a lot to figure out, a lot of questions to answer, a lot of valid concerns on how we were going to make this work. Our teachers were steadfast and patient, our parents were open-minded and helpful, our children were resilient and optimistic.
Without the help of True Mover crew, it would have been impossible. We are eternally grateful and we will shout our recommendations of their work ethic and character from the rooftops.
Moving is one of the most stressful things you can do in your entire life. Hire a crew that you trust to really have your best interests at heart. Also, you know, moving with a U-Haul is really annoying.
www.thetruemover.com // chris@thetruemover.com - 703-577-6422 // robert@thetruemover.com - 571-777-0800
Friends of CG Fridays!: SCRAWL BOOKS (With Exciting Upcoming Events!)
Scrawl Books over in Reston Town Center is a fabulous gem on Reston’s “Shop Local” Crown.
When I found out they were putting in a little bookstore right on the corner of Reston Town Center, I was absolutely delighted. It is within reasonable “Lunch Break” walking distance. It has an amazing selection, and whatever they don’t have they’re willing to order. They support local authors.
MOST IMPORTANTLY, their events promote early literacy and support several wonderful causes. In short? They’re just Good people. Good people doing Good things. And we love having friends like that.
When we contacted them a few years back to do live readings in their store, they were so supportive! They not only let us swipe their stuffy sleepover idea, but they donated items for the stuffy goodie bags!!
On Friday, March 26th, they’re actually doing their own Stuffed Animal Sleepover featuring Children’s Author Ethan Berlin! Children drop off their stuffies for a night of amazing activities, including a reading by Ethan Berlin himself of his new book I am not a Dog Toy.
Sign Up Here if you are interested.
And now, they are going to be doing a BOOK FAIR WITH US in April to celebrate Common Ground Childcare’s 49th Birthday.
When: April 12th to April 19th (LINK INCOMING, STAY TUNED). It is an online bookfair, so it goes 24/7 that entire week!
Where: Scrawl Books will have a page for us on their website, so we will post the link for that when it’s available.
How: We will have recommended books and classroom wishlists on our special link, but you can buy any of the books on the site once you have clicked through! It is not just for kids, stock up on your adult summer reading too!
Why:
- Books are brain food: For our birthday, we are promoting early literacy, consistent literacy, holistic literacy. Reading is good for everyone of every age, no matter what style of book you’re reading. Pick books out for you, your kids, your friends, your family, your school. Pick books out to donate to charity, or for your child’s classroom.
- #ShopLocal: You will be supporting a local business! Scrawl Books is a Reston treasure, and supporting them is supporting your whole town.
- Fundraiser Time: Scrawl books will keep track of how many books are purchased during our book fair and Common Ground will get a percentage of the proceeds! Is there a better birthday present that?
The Pandemic has hit all of our local businesses hard. Right now Scrawl Books is open for curbside pick up and delivery, and we hope that our Covid-19 numbers will go down and enough people will become vaccinated that we can all be together again. Until then, Scrawl Books has agreed to do live online readings for our classrooms on Wednesdays. They are partnering with us and supporting our school. The very least we can do is talk about how wonderful they are, and recommend them every chance we get.
THANK YOU, SCRAWL BOOKS!!
Love Love Love,
LJ and your Common Ground Family
Friends of CG Fridays!: Busses and Blood Drives
We have had such a whirlwind week!
And we have A LOT of people to thank for it being a great success. We are so full of gratitude, in fact, that we have decided to institute a NEW TRADITION!
“Friends of CG” Fridays will be blog posts released once a week where we thank groups, companies, teams, and other amazing people who have helped us go above and beyond.
We are starting off strong with THREE BIG THANK YOUS!
Jersey Mike’s at Hunters Woods Plaza: When we reached out to our local Jersey Mike’s Sub shop at Hunters Woods, we were looking for coupons they could give us for the “Thank You Bags” we wanted to give the Blood Donors at St. Anne’s blood drive today. Their response was so warm and giving that we were truly humbled. They gave us three different kinds of coupons, a bunch of menus, and promised to work with us in the future! They are also working with Cornerstones this month to raise money ALL MONTH to help with programs for in-need families of Reston. This giving month culminates in their HUGE event on March 31st, where all the proceeds they earn that day from open to close go to Cornerstones’ programs. We are thanking them not only for what they do for us (and for their delicious subs that make GREAT staff lunches) but what they do for their community. Way to go, you guys, you are super stars!!
Amphora Bakery at Sunset Park Drive: Full disclosure, LJ has been working with Amphora bakery since before she worked at Common Ground. Whenever we have asked for a quality bakery to work with, Amphora always comes up. They are helpful, quick, professional, kind, and DELICIOUS. When we called and asked for help getting cookies for our blood drive this week, they gave us an INCREDIBLE price and DID NOT skimp on that delectable chocolate chip cookie. They were so good we got way more than we needed so we could share with staff, who could not say enough good things about them (and always came back to see if there are more!) Thank you so much, Amphora! Can’t wait to work together again!
Wiygul Automotive in Herndon, VA: We have been a long time customer of the Wiygul Automotive location on Grant Street in Herndon. Because they service our school busses, which carry our most precious cargo, we need to have the utmost faith in their work. Along with being fast and efficient, they always take care of us with absolute professionalism and precision, and never hesitate to make sure we get a good non-profit price. Not only did they service and return BOTH of our busses this week, they also took care of Ms. LJ’s vehicle as fast as possible so that we could continue working without delay! We recommend them to anyone and everyone because we can personally vouch for their dependability over several years of use.
Keep a look out for our Featured Friends on Fridays! If you want to be a featured friend? give us a shout! We would love to work with you.
Love Love Love,
LJ and your CG Family