Dear Neighbors,
It’s officially Autumn – time to tell you that Light Up Chesterbrook will be back this December for a sixth year. We’re looking forward to once again having luminarias lining our streets, driveways, and houses. As always, we’ll have some awesome food trucks in the ’hood so you can pick up dinner and treats. And of course, it wouldn’t be the holidays without Santa on his fire truck.
The big night will be Saturday, December 13th. We’ll start selling luminaria kits in late October or early November. We’ll have more to say about all that as we get farther into Fall. We promise.
As wonderful and fun as the evening is, the heart of Light Up Chesterbrook is community, giving, and service.
This began in 2020 as a way to bring our neighborhood together during the pandemic. From the outset, we’ve also raised money for local charities, almost all of it from our sales of luminaria kits. All told, we’ve given nearly $20,000 to organizations like SHARE, McLean Matters, NVFS, and McLean Volunteer Fire Department.
We’ve decided to up our game. We are preparing to incorporate as a nonprofit and will apply for status as a public charity under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code. That will put us in a better position to give of ourselves in support of the broader community at a time when that support is sorely needed.
We also think it’s important to offer our teens more opportunities to become involved – not just to collect community service hours, but to make meaningful contributions through their service. Amanda is leading our efforts on that front, and you’ll hear more from her very soon.
Thank you all for being a part of this wonderful tradition. And – please don’t take this as some kind of threat – let us be the first to wish you Happy Holidays!
Carla, Amanda, Chris, Leah, Maria, Mary, Amy, Melinda, Nancy, Robin, and Dave
Chesterbrook Woods 