November 5, 2025
As the U.S. Federal Government shutdown continues, students and staff at L.L. Beazley Elementary School devised a way to give back to families facing uncertainty due to ongoing furloughs and staff reductions by providing them with everything they need for a delicious family meal.
Thanks to donations from within the Beazley Community and beyond the campus, including civic organizations such as the Rives Ruritan Club and the Disputanta Ruritan Club, and local business Vance Insulation, over 150 “dinners in a bag” were created, each containing all the elements for a spaghetti dinner and quick lunch-prep items for families and hand-packed by Beazley Elementary School students on Friday, October 31, 2025.
Inside each bag, along with a message of support for military families, boxes of spaghetti, parmesan cheese, and jars of pasta sauce were paired with boxes of brownie mix, offering a sweet treat for families to enjoy after their meal.
“We just want to make sure that our families know that we are here with them, we support them, and that we understand what they are going through,” L.L. Beazley Elementary School Principal Ms. Carrie Woodlief said. “Our military families show up big for us here at Beazley, and we just want to give back as much as we can to them to let them know we haven’t forgotten what they are going through as a family.”
A multiple-time Purple Star School, as designated by the Virginia Department of Education in recognition of its excellence in supporting military-connected students and families, the Beazley community, similar to Prince George County as a whole, maintains a close relationship with the military. As Prince George County Public Schools serves as the educational partner of Fort Lee, one of the largest military installations in Central Virginia, service members and their families hold a special place within the district’s schools, including Beazley Elementary.
“We partner with the military regularly at Beazley,” Ms. Woodlief explained. “We have a military counselor on-site to meet with all of our military children. We do a lot for our veterans, including our big Veterans Day assembly and parade later this month. We will also have a breakfast for them later this year, as well. We also make sure, while they are deployed, that we are there for our families, reaching out to them regularly. In some cases, their spouses work here at the school or volunteer their time to support things like our book fair and other events, so it really means a lot to give back to those who have given so much to us.”
The initiative also served as an important community service project, allowing students to see firsthand how to give back to their community in a meaningful way and the importance of partnering with others for success, including local organizations such as the county’s Ruritan clubs.
"It's our mission to help and support the Prince George community," Mr. Al Rusnak and Mr. Sterling Hunt of the Rives Ruritan Club said. "They can absolutely count on us and our support by donating, and by helping hand out bags."
“We’re here to help our citizens, and that’s what we are about - public service,” Mr. Raymond Rusnak, Jr., President of the Disputanta Ruritan Club said. “This is why we have fundraisers regularly to raise money for the community and we are glad to help in this way. It’s meaningful to us to be able to help those people who protect us through their service.”
The school distributed the bags on Monday, November 3, 2025, helping families have a positive start to the week and signaling that they’re thought of and supported by their school community.