The Scholarship Fund of Alexandria’s 38th Annual Gala & Auction is April 27th
It’s that time of year again! The Scholarship Fund of Alexandria’s 38th Annual Gala & Auction at the Hilton Mark Center is on April 27, 2024! Are you ready for Alexandria’s Prom? I love a good gala, and let me tell you the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria has the absolute best.
The SFA gala is Alexandria’s annual not-to-be missed black-tie event. Five hundred generous people come together each spring to raise money for ACPS kids. The SFA was started in 1986 by Founder, Kitty Porterfield who was surprised and frustrated helping her daughter navigate college applications. She thought about how difficult it must be for students whose parents had not gone to college, were not native English speakers or might have other difficulties in applying. She partnered with School Board member Tim Elliott to brain storm solutions and help applicants. Kitty had a by chance meeting with a woman who was a director of a scholarship fund in Cleveland and brought the idea home, and it only grew from there with hard work by Kitty and others, and with support from ACPS, the City and the community.
The Fund has grown to award scholarships to over 200 students annually plus renewal awards. To date the SFA has awarded over 18 million dollars in scholarships! Founder Kitty Porterfeld when asked if she could have foreseen what the SFA would become, exclaimed that she never had any idea. At its inception Kitty and those who worked to create the SFA were only focused on the immediate need of Alexandria’s students. They certainly never imagined what the Fund would grow into or that it would still be going strong 38 years later!
The first gala was held in 1989 at the Bradley home on Braddock Road, gathering 200 guests to raise money for the Staci C. L. Bradley Memorial Scholarship. The Annual spring SFA Gala & Auction is the major fundraiser for the SFA, and is underpinned by over 100 small businesses in and around Alexandria City through donations to the silent auction, live auction, as corporate donors, including Alexandria Toyota who donated a brand new car or 25k (the winner’s choice) for the accompanying annual raffle! Twenty years ago, the outdoor gala migrated indoors at the Hilton Mark Center accommodating 500 attendees. The night includes a cocktail reception followed by a delicious dinner, and the evening’s program—some very inspiring words from student award recipients which always draw a lot of applause and appreciation, a live auction, bidding on silent auction items, and dancing until midnight to a live band! How can you miss this?
To buy tickets or sponsor the Gala please go here!
The Spring Gala includes a fun silent and live auction to help benefit scholarships for Alexandria’s neediest students. Even if you cannot attend this year’s gala, you may still browse and bid the catalog.
But it’s time to dig a bit deeper into what you are supporting:
A total of $623,000 first year scholarships were awarded to 207 graduates of ACPS entering over 60 colleges in 2023. The class size in 2023 was over 1,000 seniors. The SFA also renewed $809,000 in scholarship awards to 272 alumni recipients to help them complete their college degree or career training.
The Scholarship Fund of Alexandria, a 501(c)(3) established in 1986 by concerned citizens to help academically qualified students with financial need from Alexandria City Public Schools afford postsecondary education. Through its relationship with the community, the mission of The Scholarship Fund of Alexandria is to encourage and assist the students of Alexandria City Public Schools by providing them with necessary resources to access and complete a college, technical or career program of postsecondary education. And have you met their staff? They go above and beyond to help students apply for and be college ready!
To award as many scholarships as possible, they develop relationships with the people who believe in our students—the community in which they live, and, with time, the community our students may one day help to grow.
Lastly for more information on volunteering, becoming an SFA Application Reader, establishing a scholarship, honoring an ACPS teacher with a scholarship in their name with our help, or donating to the General Scholarship Fund, please contact their office at (703) 824-6730, visit them in Room A-121 at Alexandria City High School, or email scholarshipfund@acps.k12.va.us. And a big shout out to this years’ gala committee: