In Brief

Saturday, July 28, 2001; Page B09

Celebrities Honor Leaders Of Interfaith Aid Effort

Virginia E. Hayes Williams, mother of D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams, sang "Motherless Child" and WUSA news anchor Andrea Roane introduced speakers at a reception Tuesday honoring the directors of about 380 organizations listed in the 2001 Emergency Food and Shelter Directory.

The 90-minute event, sponsored by the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington, took place at Metropolitan AME Church on M Street NW.

The directory, now in its 19th edition, lists volunteer organizations in the Washington area that work with the homeless, the hungry, the working poor and those with little or no medical insurance. It is distributed jointly by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments; the United Way of the National Capital Region; and the Interfaith Conference, an association of eight faith communities -- Baha'i, Hindu/Jain, Islamic, Jewish, Latter-day Saints, Protestant, Catholic and Sikh.

Last year's guide is available online at www.interfaith-metrodc.org/ifc.htm and will be updated within two weeks. Printed copies of the new guide are available from the Interfaith Conference, 1419 V St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20009. For one copy, send a self-addressed business-size envelope with $1.26 in postage; for multiple copies, call 202-234-6300.

In a separate event, Metropolitan will host the first day of a four-day festival of regional AME congregations. The festival focuses on partnerships between congregations and homeless shelters and begins at 3 p.m. tomorrow at Sixth and I streets NW. Bishop Vinton R. Anderson will speak, and church members will distribute food and clothing to the homeless.

At 5 p.m., about 5,000 AME members are expected to march from Freedom Plaza to Metropolitan to demonstrate that the church's business is "beyond the walls," a spokeswoman said. For information on festival events, call 202-842-3788.

-- Bill Broadway