Chance for Life was created in 2005 in honor of Kennedy Snyder, who was diagnosed with an aggressive spinal cord tumor at age two. What began as a small get-together has become an established 501(c)3 non-profit that holds one of metropolitan Washington’s top charity events. The annual fundraiser features a Texas Hold ’Em style poker tournament, top chef taste experience, and a glamorous Vegas-style after party. Its 14th annual celebration is presented by The Boeing Company, hosted by MGM National Harbor, and powered by RedPeg, providing 100% of net proceeds to help fund vital pediatric cancer research at Children’s National Health System and through Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation.
The Charity Poker Tournament is a Texas Hold ’Em style tournament with over 700 participating amateur players. Prizes are awarded for the top 30 winners with a grand prize of a $10,000 seat at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. The event features a top-shelf open bar, sprawling buffet, silent auction, celebrities, and more throughout the day. Poker players also have complimentary access to the Taste Experience.
The Taste Experience features uniquely curated food from renowned chefs who cook throughout metropolitan Washington. Dance the night away with an incredible line up of live performances, capped off with a surprise celebrity headliner. The night continues with a vibrant after party featuring VIP lounges, a top DJ and even more entertainment.
WHEN: Saturday, March 9, 2019
Charity Poker Tournament | 11:30am
Poker registration opens – 10am
Poker doors open – 11am
Taste Experience & Party | 6:30pm
WHERE: MGM National Harbor
MGM Grand Ballroom
101 MGM National Avenue
Oxon Hill, MD 20745
TICKETS: Individual tickets and sponsorships for both events now available at https://e.givesmart.com/events/buX/.
About Chance for Life
Less than 4% of the federal government’s total funding for cancer research is dedicated to childhood cancers each year. Chance for Life takes direct aim to fill this gap, providing 100% of net proceeds to help fund vital pediatric cancer research at Children’s National Health System and through Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. The non-profit’s major charity poker tournament and taste experience has historically raised over $4.2 million to directly support those on the forefront of local cancer research and care. For more information, please visit chanceforlife.net or follow the 501(c)(3) on Facebook and Twitter.
Women chefs, authors, culinarians, innovators and entrepreneurs will have a Shark Tank opportunity to present their ideas to a panel of professional experts as Les Dames d/Escoffier’s DC Chapter presents Pitch Fest, Saturday, March 9.
Local food entrepreneurs in retail, marketing and public relations will form the panel and will judge the pitches. The entrepreneurial winner will receive three hours of consulting services from the panelists plus a gift certificate to Michelin-starred restaurant Bresca.
Aviva Goldfarb, marketing executive and founder of “The Six o’ Clock Scramble” will moderate the panel that will include Stacey Adams, president and founder of Annapolis’ Tastings Gourmet Market; Susan Callaghan, chef and lecturer at University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Jill Collins, founder of hospitality PR firm Jill Collins Public Relations Group.
The brunch and presentation experience will be held at Mission Navy Yard from noon until 3 pm. Tickets, at $35 including brunch, may be obtained at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dc-pitch-fest-march-9-2019-noon-3-pm-tickets-55413950618
Food innovators wishing to make their pitch may sign up at https://tambrastevenson.typeform.com/to/N9TqWL
Les Dames d ’Escoffier Pitch Fest
Saturday, March 9, 2019
Noon – 3 pm
Mission Navy Yard – 1221 Van Street SE (corner Van & N Streets, across from Nats Stadium)
$35 includes brunch and presentations
#1 bestselling author Alyson Richman will be visiting Washington, D.C. to promote her new release, THE SECRET OF CLOUDS (Berkley Hardcover; February 19, 2019).
Alyson Richman is known for her sweeping, poignant works of historical fiction like The Lost Wife. Now, Richman pens a story of love and loss about a Ukrainian immigrant family living in New York following the 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear plant.
Saturday, March 9, 2019
In Conversation with Pam Jenoff
3:30 PM
Politics & Prose
5015 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington, D.C. 20008
Free and open to the public
In THE SECRET OF CLOUDS, Katya, a rising ballerina, and Sasha, a graduate student, are young and in love when an unexpected tragedy befalls their native Kiev, Ukraine. Years later, after the couple has safely immigrated to America, the consequences of this incident cause their son, Yuri, to be born with a rare health condition that isolates him from other children. Maggie, a passionate and dedicated teacher, agrees to tutor Yuri at his home, even though she is haunted by her own painful childhood memories. As the two forge a deep and soulful connection, Yuri’s boundless curiosity and unique wisdom inspire Maggie to make difficult changes in her own life. And she’ll never realize just how strong Yuri has made her—until she needs that strength the most.
Early Music Seminar: Tastes of the Mediterranean
Led by Robert Eisenstein, this lively seminar offers a sneak peek at the upcoming concert Tastes of the Mediterranean: Music of 16th-Century Spain and Italy. Wine reception included.
Location: Folger Haskell Center
Hours: 6pm
Tickets: $20
Info: www.folger.edu/events or (202) 544-7077
O.B. HARDISON POETRY
Vinegar and Char: Verse from the Southern Foodways Alliance
Three poets from this culinary anthology, Sandra Beasley, Sean Hill, and Atsuro Riley, read work that delves into the shaping influence of history, culture, and identity—and celebrates the glory of food itself. This evening is in conjunction with Before ‘Farm to Table’: Early Modern Foodways and Cultures, a Mellon initiative in collaborative research at the Folger. Reception and book-signing to follow the reading.
Hours: 7:30pm
Tickets: $15
Info: www.folger.edu/poetry or (202) 544-7077
Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Artistic Director Michael Kahn invites theatre-lovers to a series of intimate conversations about life in the D.C. theatre scene as he prepares to retire from the STC stage. Open, unrehearsed, and off the record, invited speakers will swap anecdotes and share memories about Michael Kahn’s 33-years at Shakespeare Theatre Company. Following his career trajectory, the discussions will focus on three distinct eras in STC’s history by mapping D.C.’s changing theatre scene. The first Michael Kahn and Friends: Off the Record will focus on the formation of The Shakespeare Theatre Company in its first location: Folger Theatre (1986-1992).
On March 11, audiences are invited to join Michael and STC Affiliated Artists Edward Gero, Stacy Keach, Derek Smith, and Franchelle Stewart Dorn as they discuss their favorite performances onstage, backstage antics, and offstage tales. In 1986, shortly after The Shakespeare Theatre at the Folger was formed as a newly incorporated, not-for-profit institution separate from the Folger Shakespeare Library, Kahn became Artistic Director and guided the theatre into national prominence. The first three seasons included several landmark productions and garnered many Helen Hayes nominations. STC changed the cultural landscape of the nation’s capital with its first Free For All in 1991. More than 2,500 theatregoers watched each performance of The Merry Wives of Windsor under the stars at Carter Barron Amphitheatre. This annual tradition of free Shakespeare continues to this day and over 630,000 people have attended a performance during Free For All.
Future Michael Kahn and Friends: Off the Record events will focus on the Lansburgh Years (May 15) and the Harman Years (June 5). More details will be released soon.
The Photographer in the Garden
Tuesday, March 12, 2019, 5:30-8 p.m.
Photography historian Sarah Anne McNear will consider how photographers from all eras have depicted the cultivated landscape and share floral displays and botanical studies.
Please note: This is the fourth and final program in the Great Homes and Gardens lecture series.
4155 Linnean Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008
Baille Gelwicks, Regional Director
Joy Kingsley-Ibeh, Programming Co-Chair
Lisa D’Angelo, Programming Co-Chair
Nadine Naskoviak, Membership Chair
Sophie Blake, Secretary
Jen Walawender, Sponsorship Chair
Nina Thirakul, Treasurer
1924 8th Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20001
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
6pm – 9pm
FGIDC Members: Free/Non-Members: $10
* Membership will be validated
This March, Kimpton Mason & Rook Hotel will celebrate Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day by hosting Women Doing Work, an event supporting and highlighting women in partnership with Vital Voices. The event planned for Wednesday, March 13 will benefit Vital Voices, an international non-profit organization that identifies, provides training for and invests in daring women leaders so that they can create change in their communities and around the world. All are welcome to attend to learn from and network with some of Washington’s top businesswomen.
WHAT: Women Doing Work, a panel conversation about how D.C. women in business get it done
WHO: Kimpton Mason & Rook Hotel in partnership with Vital Voices
DETAILS: Washingtonians can learn how to navigate the business world through powerful women leaders’ perspectives with this panel discussion and networking event held by Kimpton Mason & Rook Hotel and Vital Voices to celebrate International Women’s Day. Guests can learn from Washington-based female leaders with different perspectives from successful business owners, mentors, and leaders to their respective organizations. These powerful ladies will speak to the community about how D.C. women in business get it done, followed by networking and mentor matching, professional headshots while shopping local female makers from Shop Made in DC and enjoying snacks and drinks provided by the hotel’s culinary cocktail bar, Radiator. All are welcome to attend. Ticket sales benefit Vital Voices.
Panelists include:
- LaJuanna Russell – Founder, President & CEO, Business Management Associates, Inc.
- Loren Bushkar – Managing Director of Global Membership Development, Institute of International Finance
- Stacey Price – Co-Founder and Creative Director, Shop Made in DC
- Telesa Via – Vice President of Sales, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants
WHY: Kimpton Mason & Rook Hotel has partnered with Vital Voices to further their mission to identify, provide training for and invest in creative and fearless women so that they can lead change in their communities and around the world. In honor of International Women’s Day, this event will give the public the opportunity speak with smart, empowered women in the local community, receive tools for success, and make connections for the future.
WHEN: Wednesday March 13, 2019
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
WHERE: Kimpton Mason & Rook Hotel
1430 Rhode Island Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20005
TICKETS: Tickets are $15 with all ticket sales to benefit Vital Voices. Guests can purchase tickets to the event at: https://dcwomendoingwork.eventbrite.com/?aff=kimptonpromo
To learn more about Kimpton Mason & Rook Hotel, visit www.masonandrook.com.
For more information about Vital Voices, visit www.vitalvoices.org.
