Fair Chance’s 5th Annual Butterfly Bash

Katharine Weymouth- publisher of The Washington Post was the keynote speaker and honorary chair

By Punch Passport Correspondent Lori González Lazzarini

On Friday, October 14^th, I had the opportunity to be one of the Washingtonians to come together to celebrate Fair Chance and its work supporting tens of thousands of DC children, youth, and young adults at the 5^th Annual Butterfly Bash.

The evening started with my friend Sarah and I arriving at the stunning Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in our two cute black cocktail dresses.   We were in awe as soon as we walked inside the building; not only we were amazed by the building architecture, which was my first time visiting, but we were very impressed with the gala décor, ambiance, and guests. The Butterfly Bash had a very good looking and happy crowd; there was more sparkles and shine than any other event I have been so far in DC.  The sparkles and shine were hitting us from every direction in the form of smiles, outfits, shoes, and wedding rings.

Maria T Nagorski, Executive Director, Amanda Marshall, Fair Chance Founder, and me

Something that was very different from other events was that this was not a sit down event with a long program and speeches. The program part of the evening lasted about 15 minutes with Honorary Chair, Katharine Weymouth, Publisher of the Washington Post addressing the sold out crowd, along with Fair Chance Founder, Amanda Marshall, and Co-Chairs Julie Maner and Megan Rupp.

Sarah King and me

After the program, they had a in a live auction in which they raised over $22,000 in a matter of less than five minutes.  I was very impressed!  These proceeds along with the proceeds from the sponsors and the tickets will allow Fair Chance to support an additional 10 organizations and the thousands of children they serve within the next year.

Fair Chance has impacted over 54,000 children and youth living in Wards 5, 6, 7, and 8 and helped transform nearly 60 nonprofit organizations. The organization’s proven Partnership Program, provides more than 300 hours of free coaching and support to small, youth-based nonprofits helping them do what they do better and do more of it.

gifts for guests from BLT Steak

the band - The Jangling Reinharts

The rest of the evening was splendid; I had a great time doing some people watching for a while.   The Bash clearly attracts a remarkable and fascinating crowd with its fresh and innovative party concept of a cocktail party, with an awesome live band, to raise money for a brilliant local charity.

Learn more about Fair Chance HERE.