unites and recognizes the community’s most active leaders in the name of inclusion.
November 10,2023
6:00 PM | Washington, D.C.
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Best Buddies in Virginia & DC will be hosting our HOMECOMING-Champions Gala, back in person(!) with our students and supporters this year. This event raises critical funds for Best Buddies programs throughout the Capital Region. Best Buddies HOMECOMING-Champions Gala will be held at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, DC.
The event will combine our Champions of Inclusion competition that celebrates emerging leaders throughout the Virginia & Washington, DC community and a Homecoming Dance for our Best Buddies students.
We are expecting over 300 supporters and 500 Best Buddies students at this exciting combined-event. Adults will enjoy a Silent and Live Auction with enticing items from area restaurants, local museums, spas, inns, theaters and more. While guests bid on auction items and enjoy music and drinks, they will savor tasty dishes from a select group of favorite Washington DC Metropolitan area restaurants with chefs teaming up with Buddies Sous Chefs to serve their signature dishes, including: Bourbon Steak, Carmine’s, Founding Farmers, Good Stuff Eatery, Lebanese Taverna, Mayflower, Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center Executive Chef, Stellina and Taco Bamba.
The evening will culminate in the naming the ultimate CHAMPION of the YEAR for Virginia & Washington DC. Throughout the evening, Best Buddies students will dance the night away at their Homecoming Dance with DJ, pizza, fun and friendship!
Our Champions are advocates for the Best Buddies mission and their multi-week campaigns generate countless opportunities for friendships, jobs, leadership development and inclusive living for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). At the campaign’s conclusion, we will celebrate at the Best Buddies Homecoming: Champions Gala to honor the Champions’ collective impact and name the ultimate Champion of the Year!
We hope to raise $210,000 at this event – all funds will be used locally to support Virginia & DC Best Buddies programs and participants. You can support Best Buddies and continue to provide these meaningful opportunities to people with IDD by supporting a Champion’s campaign, purchasing tickets, becoming a corporate sponsor, or making a general donation to the cause.
We hope you’ll join us for a fun, thrilling and friendship-filled event!
Best Buddies Champion of the Year is a competitive fundraising campaign that unites and recognizes leaders of inclusion in local communities nationwide.
Champion Candidates commit to raising funds and awareness for Best Buddies throughout their campaign. Our Champions advocate for the Best Buddies mission and will generate countless opportunities for friendships, jobs, and leadership development. At the Best Buddies Champion of the Year celebration, we honor the Champions’ collective impact and name the ultimate Champion of the Year!
Schedule
Friday, November 10, 2023
Program for the Adult Party:
6:00pm-7:45pm: Silent Auction, Open Bar, Chef & Buddy Sous Chef Tasting Stations
8:00pm-10:00pm: Live Auction, Introduction of Champions, Diane Ray Brown Lifetime of Friendship Award sponsored by Tiffany & Co., Mission Moments & Naming of THE Champion of the Year.
Program for Student Homecoming Dance:
6:00pm-10:00pm: Dancing, Music with DJ 24/7, Pizza, Photo Booths and Fun!
Location
Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20004
Directions & Information for the Ronald Reagan Building
We recommend that everyone arrive via the 14th Street Entrance – view directions
Event Contact
MarySchafhauser@bestbuddies.org
Congrats to our 2022 VADC Champion of the Year
Jaxson Zimmerman
Raised $8,773 for Best Buddies in VADC
Click here for our Nationwide Champion Winners
A Glimpse of the Party…
Why Participate...
All funds raised benefit Best Buddies – the world’s largest organization dedicated to ending the social, physical and economic isolation of the 200 million people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Our programs empower the special abilities of people with IDD by helping them form meaningful friendships with their peers, secure successful jobs, live independently, improve public speaking, self-advocacy and communication skills, and feel valued by society.
The IDD community that Best Buddies serves includes, but is not limited to, people with Down Syndrome, Autism, Fragile X, Williams Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, traumatic brain injury and other undiagnosed disabilities.
