The Community Foundation for Northern Virginia will hold its annual Sweet Home Virginia Gala on Friday, October 10, 2014 at the Sheraton Tysons Hotel. The event will honor Richard Duvall of Holland & Knight LLP with the 2014 Community Leadership Award. Attendees will also celebrate The Centennial of Community Foundations in America.
The Community Foundation for Northern Virginia (CFNV) is a grantmaker that helps meet the most critical needs of the region. Through a variety of funds and other donor vehicles, the foundation supports initiatives in key areas, such as children’s health, STEM innovation and animal welfare, to name a few.
As a grantmaker, the Community Foundation awarded more than $3.7 million in grants to nonprofits, schools and interfaith groups; $225,000 in scholarships; and reported $35 million in managed assets in the 2013-2014 season.
Funds raised at the Sweet Home Virginia Gala will help to further the foundation’s work in the community. The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. with a reception and silent auction, followed by an elegant seated dinner, an awards presentation and live auction.
WashingtonExec spoke with Hilary Fordwich, Strelmark President and Founder, a business development consulting firm, who is co-chairing the event with Holland & Knight partner Stu Mendelsohn.
“Dick has been a stalwart friend for well over a decade,” Fordwich said of this year’s honoree. “He is a great man of incredible integrity, with great vision, a big heart and a soul dedicated to his family and our region. He actually also has a super sense of humor. I admire that he served in the Navy (JAG Corps), went on to be instrumental in the development of our region, holding such leadership positions as Chair of the Fairfax Chamber, and an integral partner at Holland and Knight, all while being a good husband and father.”
“In addition, I have worked with clients who would like to raise their profile in the region while benefiting CFNV,” Fordwich said. “I have enjoyed working to make this a fun and fantastic event with unique auction items such at the ACADEMI Experience, an executive retreat in their security facility in NC, every man’s dream to be in an intensely professional high-end military training facility for a weekend. We will have great fun with this and other unique packages I am most sure.”
To Fordwich, having a network of professionals giving back to their local community is what sets the Communication Foundation for Northern Virginia Gala apart from others.
“All of the professionals in our region are truly blessed to be as successful as we all are. We must remember though that there are many less fortunate and or less capable of attaining all we have,” she said. “It is the right thing to do to give back, to care for those who have had perhaps bad breaks, have served our nation and need help re-adjusting and those who need us to help. We must focus on those right beside us who need a lift in life.”
The gala also presents an opportunity for smaller businesses to network and raise their company profile.
“Attend the event, come and meet our great executives and leaders in this region who will be there to support the CFNV and I’ll be glad to introduce you around!” Fordwich said.
Tickets, which are tax deductible and available online, start at $300 for individuals and $1,800 for sponsors.
The night of the event, the foundation will help supporters understand what and where the community needs are, from poverty, to aging and returning veterans.
