2022 Helping Children Soar Benefit

On September 20^th, we gathered for our first in-person Helping Children Benefit in three years at our new event location – District Winery on the Anacostia waterfront!

We honored The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation for their ongoing investment in improving behavioral health across the DC region.

DC kids and families have always faced challenges. But the pandemic made even the most straight-forward puzzles more complicated. Thankfully, partners and supporters across the entire Children’s Law Center community came together to ensure we could keep piecing together each puzzle – no matter how complex – for the children and families we serve.

The evening of September 20th marked our first Benefit at District Winery and our first in-person Benefit since 2019. Connecting with new and old friends served as a great reminder of how critical finding community, purpose and joy are to this work – and to our own health and happiness. 

We also celebrated all those who make our work possible, including our tenacious sponsors, partners, and staff. And we recognized two in particular: The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation and our Pro Bono Champion Crowell & Moring. 

It Takes All of Us

Unlike in previous years, our focus at this Benefit was not on a single child or family. Instead, we told a very different story: The ongoing work of making DC’s complex behavioral health system serve our children better. So many families, advocacy and medical partners, government leaders and supporters have put years of effort into building a better solution for DC kids: 

Watch our full event here:

Our Honorees

The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation

The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation is our Helping Children Soar Award honoree for their ongoing investment in improving behavioral health across the DC region. They have been an instrumental partner in our work to ensure every DC child has access to high-quality, timely behavioral health services. With support from the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation and our advocacy partners across the District, we have expanded behavioral health programs to reach kids in schools, early childcare centers and pediatricians’ offices.

Crowell & Moring

Children’s Law Center is pleased to recognize Crowell & Moring LLP as its 2022 Pro Bono Champion. For the past two decades, Crowell & Moring has partnered with Children’s Law Center to support the District’s children and families in need. The firm has handled an extraordinary number of pro bono cases – nearly two hundred – since 2004. Crowell & Moring has provided critical legal assistance on matters impacting a child’s family, health and education: representing caregivers seeking to provide children with stable homes; serving as guardians ad litem for children in contested custody disputes; helping parents secure necessary housing repairs to improve a child’s health; and obtaining special education services for children struggling in school.

In addition to representing clients, Crowell & Moring has also provided Children’s Law Center with critical counsel and advisory support to strengthen our individual and systemic advocacy. The firm’s excellent leadership – from their exceptional pro bono team to Children’s Law Center board members past and present – has fostered an impressive pro bono partnership year after year. The Crowell & Moring team has generously lent their time, legal talent and financial support to serve District families. We express our deepest gratitude for the firm’s dedication to pro bono, commitment to racial justice and service to our community.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Visionary ($75,000+)

MAJIC Vermont Foundation

Pioneer ($25,000+)

Jule Cahill Crider and Greg Crider 

Manu Gayatrinath and Anthony Cruz  

Diana and Stephen Goldberg

Wendy and Fred Goldberg

Creighton and Vicky Magid 

Guardian ($15,000+)

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation President’s Grant Fund of the Princeton Area Community Foundation

Page and Howard Smith

Melissa Wiley

Benefactor ($10,000+)

Anonymous

Elizabeth and Justin Bausch 

Jeff Brennan and Debbie Feinstein 

Gregory Coleman and Allison Alexander 

Jonathan Franklin and Sharon Bradford Franklin 

Stephanie P. Hales and Thomas L. Devlin 

The Herb Block Foundation

The Andrew and Julie Klingenstein Family Fund 

Dan Masur and Sherry Rhodes

Anthony and Dale Pappas 

Richard Perry

Theodore D. Segal and Joyce Wasserstein 

Katie and Dick Snowdon

Advocate ($5,000+)

Meagan and John Barkett

Nathaniel and Lee Beers

Miguel Browne and Silvija Strikis 

Tom and Kristy Bulleit 

Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton LLP

Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC 

Dorothy and Joseph Conti

Crowell & Moring Foundation

Anne P. Davis

Deka Immobilien Global 

Joyce Deroy and Warren King 

Evermay Wealth Management, LLC 

Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP

FTI Consulting, Inc. 

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP 

Lisa Greenman and Paul Leder

Steven and Carla Heger 

Shira M. Helstrom 

Herman Wilson Family Foundation 

Michael and Donna Rich Kaplowitz 

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP 

Geoffrey M. Klineberg and Ursula Werner

Courtenay and Michael Labson 

Rich and Lynne Lucas 

Jim and Marilyn McCullough 

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP 

Timothy W. Riffe 

Brian Shook and Derek Thomas 

Nancy and Simon Sidamon-Eristoff 

Thomson Reuters  

Wiley Rein LLP 

Winston & Strawn LLP 

Joanne L. Zimolzak and Eric Sampson  

Mentor ($3,000+)

Rosemary Barkett 

Jennifer and Branden Brough 

Traevena L. Byrd 

Theresa and Frank Connolly 

Dykema Gossett PLLC 

Evan and Amanda Farber  

Andrew Greenfield 

Hall Render Killian Heath & Lyman, P.C.  

Alan and Miriam Pemberton 

Friend ($1,500+)

Anonymous 

Stephanie and Joel Bell 

H. Guy Collier and Catherine Colyer

David Edwards and Jacqueline Holmes 

Joanna Edgell 

Maxine and Jeffrey Freund 

Charlotte Gillingham 

Ellie Hamburger 

David and Jill Kalinski 

Theresa and Curt Martin

John and Deborah Majoras

Bryan Nese and Hnin Khaing 

Ruth and Stephen Pollak 

The Raben Group 

Jessica Rebarber 

Ray Ritchey 

James Rocap  

Rochelle-Leigh Rosenberg and Daniel Ben-Zadok

David Sandalow and Holly Hammonds 

Maya Sandalow 

James Sandman and Elizabeth Mullin 

Benjamin and Sarah Shapiro 

Lori and Ben Soto 

Jeffrey P. Taft 

Stephen J. Teach and Elizabeth B. Jewett 

Ann Untalan 

Keith and Geetha Waehrer

The Zerhouni Family Charitable Foundation 

For more information, including sponsorship opportunities, please contact Erica McCollum at 202-467-4900 ext. 524 or emccollum@childrenslawcenter.org.