During the month of August, the Prince William Republican Committee conducted a
back-to-school supply drive to benefit some of the County’s neediest students. The Committee collected
enough supplies to fill 10 large boxes, and delivered them to Occoquan Elementary School and Rippon Middle
School.

Items collected included backpacks, pens, no. 2 pencils, water-based markers, glue sticks, three-ring binders,
pocket folders, and loose-leaf notebook paper. Community service has been a focus for the Prince William
GOP this year, and this project was the Committee’s latest activity. Any Prince William County resident can
participate in the Committee’s Community Service Initiative no matter what their political affiliation is.
Last year, the Committee collected 9 large boxes of school supplies and delivered them to Vaughn Elementary
School and Fred Lynn Middle School, both Title I schools.

Stafford County Fire and Rescue’s newest arson investigator is a two-year-old yellow lab named Duchess who was acquired through a grant from State Farm Insurance. Duchess and her handler Deputy Fire Marshal Ben Gouldman recently completed 200 hours of training at State Farm’s Accelerant Detection Canine School, located in Maine. Ben and Duchess will assist during fire investigations in determining whether or not ignitable liquids (accelerants) were present at the time of a fire. She may also be used to detect ignitable liquids on a suspect’s clothing or inside of a vehicle used to transport such liquids.

Duchess is the department’s first accelerant detection canine; the members of the department are excited to have her join the Stafford County Fire and Rescue family.