{"id":175710,"date":"2023-11-17T09:50:33","date_gmt":"2023-11-17T14:50:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/?p=175710"},"modified":"2023-12-01T08:27:34","modified_gmt":"2023-12-01T13:27:34","slug":"homecoming-two-parties-one-purpose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/vadc\/homecoming-two-parties-one-purpose","title":{"rendered":"Homecoming: Two Parties, One Purpose"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”175715″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Last week, over 270 Best Buddies supporters gathered for the annual Homecoming: Two Parties, One Purpose Gala<\/strong><\/a> to celebrate friendship and inclusion.<\/p>\n

Guests enjoyed tasty bites<\/a> prepared by 11 local chefs and their buddy sous chefs while celebrating our philanthropic Champions who engaged in a friendly competition to raise awareness and funds for Best Buddies.<\/p>\n

\"Homecoming<\/p>\n

Every chef partnered with a Best Buddies member to create and serve a dish. Guests enjoyed food from Taco Bamba<\/a>, Four Seasons<\/a>, Lebanese Taverna<\/a>, Chloe<\/a>, Mercy Me<\/a>, All Purpose<\/a>, Stellina Pizzeria<\/a>, Carmine’s<\/a>, Silver and Sons Barbecue<\/a>, La Famosa<\/a>, and from our host chef, Houman Gohary from the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Homecoming<\/p>\n

Champions and their Mission Partners are inclusive, invested, and passionate. They are parents, professionals, and Best Buddies participants who are helping grow our Best Buddies programs across Virginia and DC.<\/p>\n

These extraordinary changemakers for inclusion raised over $151,000, with the event total adding up to over $272,000, exceeding our goal by over $37,000!<\/p>\n

\"Homecoming<\/p>\n

Congratulations to our Champions of the Year, Rose, Dave, and Reilly Donovan, who raised over $66,000!<\/p>\n

The applause didn\u2019t stop there. Longtime Best Buddies supporter and friend, Shannen Coffin, was honored with the Diane Ray Brown Lifetime of Friendship Award<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Homecoming<\/p>\n

While the adults were busy outbidding each other on prizes such as a beach house stay and the opportunity to be the Grand Marshal at the upcoming Friendship Walk<\/a>, across the hall, students from high schools across Virginia and DC danced the night away to music from DJ 24\/7<\/a>. They enjoyed fun games, pizza, and crafts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had such a great time and am so glad I went!\u201d said Drew S.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was amazing to see so many other people who share the same passion for Best Buddies,\u201d he continued, perfectly capturing the spirit of the evening.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Celebrate inclusion and friendship with Best Buddies Virginia & DC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2080,"featured_media":175715,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"vadc-single-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[504,505],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-175710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-capital-region","category-capital-region-news"],"yoast_head":"\nHomecoming: Two Parties, One Purpose - Best Buddies International<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/vadc\/homecoming-two-parties-one-purpose\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Homecoming: Two Parties, One Purpose - Best Buddies International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Celebrate inclusion and friendship with Best Buddies Virginia & DC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/vadc\/homecoming-two-parties-one-purpose\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Best Buddies International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-17T14:50:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-12-01T13:27:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/2023-VADC-Homecoming-Two-Parties-One-Gala.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"leemosler\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"leemosler\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/vadc\/homecoming-two-parties-one-purpose\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/vadc\/homecoming-two-parties-one-purpose\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"leemosler\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#\/schema\/person\/e016e3c8c2cd3b7e04adf72b23efb560\"},\"headline\":\"Homecoming: Two Parties, One Purpose\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-17T14:50:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-01T13:27:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/vadc\/homecoming-two-parties-one-purpose\/\"},\"wordCount\":333,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/vadc\/homecoming-two-parties-one-purpose\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/2023-VADC-Homecoming-Two-Parties-One-Gala.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Capital Region\",\"Capital Region News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/vadc\/homecoming-two-parties-one-purpose\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/vadc\/homecoming-two-parties-one-purpose\/\",\"name\":\"Homecoming: Two Parties, One Purpose - 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