Capital Partners for Education Raises Funds on an Evening with Michel Richard

Saturday evening, Capital Partners for Education (CPE) which was founded in 1993 by Ambassador Henry D. Owen and Theodore A. Schwab, held an intimate fundraiser dinner of 250 at the Potomac residence of Ken Bajaj and his wife Kavelle.  The $1,000 a plate event was more than worth it, not just because one of the country’s best chefs (THE Michel Richard) was personally overseeing our meals, or that we were surrounded by a crowd of prestigious influential entreprenuers and executives (including Ted Schwab, Charlie Thomas of Razorsight, Greg Baroni of Unisys Federal, and Charles Rossotti of the Carlyle Group to name a few), or that even the dinner was held under a huge tent around a pool that held beautiful floating floral arrangements.  It wasn’t even because Wizards play-by-play announcer Steve Buckhantz was more than entertaining as the MC, or that one of the auction items was an original signed copy of the classic “To Kill a Mockingbird” that went for $2,500, or that the delightful string quartet provided us music to our ears during the dinner.  Nor was it because six of the graduating seniors who had been recipients of CPE’s annual scholarships to private high schools in DC were in attendance, a few going to Ivy League schools on full scholarship and all going on to higher education.   All of the reasons above would have made sense alone or together, as to why this was such a special function.  The biggest reason to me however, is that Mr. and Mrs Bajaj, paid for the entire event out of their own pockets, so that each guest’s $1,000 as well as further donations, went directly to the foundation. 

This organization gives at-risk, inner city kids a chance for a better life through education.  These children are smart, dedicated, hard working, inspired youth who apply for a scholarship from CPE (up to $4,500 yearly) in order to attend a private DC high school.  The scholarships are automatically annually renewed, as long as the student adheres to the program’s strict guidelines.  The success rate is astronomical.  CPE students who have stayed in the program graduate high school - 100% of them.  Eight-seven percent then do gone on to higher education, some of them gaining full scholarships to Ivy League institutions.  If they had not had the opportunity to attend these private high schools and develop strong academic and leadership skills, who knows where they would end up. 

The Board of Directors is extremely strong and they are looking to the community and corporate and private donors to continue to grow the organization and number of children they can postitively affect. 

For more information on Capital Partners for Education, please check out the web site www.cpfe.org.  There you will find fantastic, motivating success stories of what some of the past program graduates are doing.  Thank you to Khari Brown, CPE’s Executive Director, for the great work he and his staff do, the Board of Directors, Michel Richard for auctioning off his “Happy in the Kitchen” books as well as his TWO private dinner parties, and of course, the generous Bajaj family for opening up their stunning home and donating the entire event. 

(Pictured from top to bottom: L-R, Charlie Thomas, Ken Bajaj and Greg Baroni; Master of Ceremonies Steve Buckhantz; Auctioneer Audrey Cramer of Cushman & Wakefield with Chef Michel Richard; I never met a dessert from Michel Richard I didn’t love)