Volunteer groups provide residents with opportunities to foster a sense of community, bring people together, and support worthy causes. These groups work well due to their numerous resident volunteers. Below are those 4701 groups open to any resident to participate (although some may have waiting lists), along with a brief statement of purpose, services, and the names of the administrative volunteers.
The 4701 Book Club is a book club open to residents of the Willard Towers. The club meets monthly in the community room to discuss a book and is a welcome social oasis for people who enjoy literary discussions over food and drink, all contributed by the members, who select the books and moderate the monthly discussions. It was founded in 2013 by Ravelle Brickman and Dale Stempler, who served as the original co-chairs and administrators.
The WT Compost Group is an all-volunteer group of WT neighbors helping to save the planet one kitchen discard at a time. Members do this by turning food scraps back into rich compost, fueling new food growth at small local farms. Members collect organic trash inside kitchen containers and compostable liners, and deposit them at their leisure inside one of the large green bins in the loading dock. The bins are emptied once a week by Compost Crew, a local company committed to preserving the environment. The compost they produce is donated to small local farms. Members of the WT Compost Group pay quarterly fees to pay Compost Crew services.
Contact:
WTCompost@gmail.com
The Crafts and Chat Group began about 11 years ago to bring together 4701 residents who want to share their interests in various arts and crafts, learn new crafts and techniques, and support each other in our artistic explorations. Members have included knitters, embroiderers, quilters, dressmakers, doll makers, sketchers, and painters of all skill levels. Membership has expanded from 4701, and Crafts and Chats is now included as part of the Friendship Heights Neighbors Network. We meet one afternoon a month in the community room of Willard Towers.
Meet and Greet social get-together was started by Ravelle Brickman and Ellen Croog in May 2020. Designed as a much-needed social antidote to the pandemic, it started with a weekly coffee klatch on the roof, then gradually evolved into its current format, which is a bimonthly cocktail party held in the tenants' lounge. Everyone who attends is expected to contribute ready-to-serve cocktail-style food and wine or non-alcoholic drinks. The current Meet and Greet team has four leaders and many regular hosts:
VVA (Veterans’ Voice of America) aims to provide our nation’s veterans with VA claims assistance, health care resources, and a voice in the halls of Congress. Our local VVA group collects a wide range of goods which are sold to benefit the VVA. The AIR front office has helped by providing space by the freight elevator and an empty storage unit for overflow. Collections are held approximately every 2-3 months, with notifications over the WTA listserv and in the laundry rooms.
Willard Holiday Gift Fund. For the past five years, many of us have participated in a fund drive for a collective holiday gift to all the people in the building who serve us throughout the year: concierges, maintenance staff, and cleaning staff. We count on your generosity to recognize the hardworking men and women who make our lives easier. We collect funds beginning right after Thanksgiving and ask that each apartment contribute what they can.
The Willard Towers Little Library is located in a rather out-of-the-way room on the first floor, up a few steps, and next door to the dog-washing room. About seven years ago, WTA Chair Larry Barrett had the idea of reviving the former 4701 library with Marilyn Smith and Susan Sulieman as initial co-chairs of the Library Committee. The room houses a large collection of fiction, alphabetized by author, as well as nonfiction collections of History, Government and Politics and Biography and Memoirs. Other, smaller collections of various nonfiction titles, such as art, theater, business, come and go, depending on various volunteers' interests. The library has a small but fairly steady coterie of users, and the committee is discussing ways to draw in more readers. Nina Graybill is the current library chair, Dayle Ginsburg is the vice chair and committee members managing the library include: