The Inn Takes Center Stage for An Evening for Hope
The Inn’s annual gala raised over $1.8 million for the families who call it their Place Like Home
On Saturday, May 3, The Children’s Inn at NIH hosted its 11th annual An Evening for Hope gala at The Ritz-Carlton in Tysons, Virginia. The gala raised over $1.8 million for The Inn and its families. Tony Perkins, current anchor of NBC’s News4 Today and longtime Washington D.C. media figure, returned to emcee the event for a fifth time. Todd Pantezzi, Inn Trustee and Chief Strategy Officer, CVP, led the organizing committee for the tenth consecutive year.
The evening shone a spotlight on the inspiring story of siblings Lucy and Landon from North Carolinain their fight against Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID), a rare genetic disorder. Despite shared family roots and diagnosis, they had wildly divergent paths to reach that point. Their medical journeys converged with lifesaving bone marrow transplants and visits to the NIH Clinical Center. Throughout their journey and as they forge their own paths to healthy lives, Lucy and Landon and their family found a community at The Inn and got the treatment they needed to return home healthy and excited for the future.
“For 35 years, The Children’s Inn has provided hope and comfort to families facing challenges that are unimaginable to most of us,” said Jennie Lucca, CEO of The Children’s Inn at NIH. “Our partnership with NIH allows us to create a Place Like Home for our families while they undergo treatment at the forefront of a new era of promising pediatric research. As part of The Inn’s strategic vision, we are accelerating our impact on medical discovery and care. The Children’s Inn will be able to do more for our families thanks to our partnerships with the wider NIH community and, of course, the generosity of each and every supporter.”
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the 18th Director of the NIH, provided welcoming remarks to kickoff the program. Ken Wojdon, NIH Account Leader with Deloitte, and Liz Porter, President of Leidos’ Health and Civil Sector, each addressed the crowd of nearly 600 to share their perspectives on the impact of The Children’s Inn on the medical community, and Kristin Arabian, The Inn’s Family Program Operations Manager, highlighted the community and activities available to each family who stays at The Inn. Prachee Devadas, President and CEO of Synergy Enterprises, introduced Lucy and Landon’s mother Mary to share their story. Their clinician, Dr. Dimana Dimitrova of the National Cancer Institute, was welcomed to the stage by Booz Allen Hamilton Senior Vice President Roman Salasznyk.
At the end of the evening, auctioneer Billy Harris hosted a live auction and fund-the-mission appeal, which engaged the crowd and rewarded the highest bidders with items such as one-of-a-kind artwork created by Inn families, trips to Punta Cana and Tuscany, and an in-home dinner with celebrity chefs.
Details for next year’s An Evening for Hope gala will be finalized in the coming weeks and shared on www.childrensinn.org when available.
