Capital City Ball

Adrienne Szabo

by contributor Wendy Gordon
Photo credit: Rick Gambhir--OpenEyesStudio, LLC

The Capital City Ball takes place Saturday, November 19th at The Washington Club in Dupont Circle.

Capital City Ball founders Dr. John Dunford & Tanya Sabel

A pre-event VIP cocktail party and dinner was held on Tuesday evening at the residence of  H.E. Abdulwahab A. AL-Hajjri, Ambassador, Embassy of the Republic of Yemen, to further energize the mission of the organization—to bring attention and support those that work toward ending human trafficking around the world and at home. 

The crowd was welcomed by H.E. Hunaina Sultan Al-Mughairy, Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman, who pointed out the ongoing worldwide work in fighting against human trafficking in all forms.   Event founder Dr. John Dunford addressed the crowd, reminding those in attendance that this is not just an issue overseas, but also right here under our noses in Washington, DC, noting the area’s Human Trafficking Task Force and their work locally.

The concept for the Capital City Ball was created in September 2007 by a group of DC area professionals who  saw an opportunity to create a high caliber, annual black tie party for the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Liz Sara and Jim Maas

Their goals were simple: host a top notch party, make sure our guests have a good time, and raise money and awareness for an important charitable cause. We also are committed to attracting a diverse group of fun and friendly people. 

The founders chose combating human trafficking as a cause, because “it is such an egregious crime, and because the organizations dedicated to fighting it need a tremendous amount of support to effectively combat this scourge.”

Proceeds from this year’s event will benefit Bridge to Freedom, Courtney's House, HIPS and WEAVE to support their work fighting human trafficking and modern-day slavery.  www.capitalcityball.org