Last month, OCI was one of the sponsors for the AFCEA Bethesda “A Night for the Children” fundraising Gala. The money raised at the event was donated to two local charities, The Children’s Inn at NIH and DC House of Ruth.  AFCEA Bethesda has been involved with charitable giving for over 15 years and traditionally supports charities that help children and families in the local community. Today, this gala is considered one of the biggest IT fundraisers in the area and is supported by many large organizations like Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman, Accenture and Microsoft.  

In recent years OCI has supported children abroad through charities like the Children’s AIDS Fund as well as scholarship programs in Africa and the United States.

Joining forces with the AFCEA Bethesda Chapter and other sponsors for this event aligns with OCI’s other philanthropic initiatives.

As with many charitable galas there was plenty of great food, live music, auctions and dancing. A noticeable amount of picture taking was also present! (Example, OCI Selfie pictured above.)

However, the best part of the night was hearing directly from two teenagers supported by the charities.

Shortly after Leon Harris, reporter for ABC7/WJLA-TV, took the stage.

“In our business they say you never want to follow up an animal act or a child. How can you beat that?” He was right! The teenagers outperformed all guest speakers that evening by being courageous and sharing their stories with the audience.