Dave Eggers Does The Write Thing; Kimsey Foundation Benefit Highlights 826DC!

MCLEAN, Va. -- Doing the “write” thing was made a whole lot easier on Saturday evening, as the Kimsey Foundation hosted an intimate soiree benefiting the free writing and tutoring programs of 826DC, at AOL founding CEO James Kimsey’s well-appointed McLean mansion overlooking the Potomac.

Christian Zapatka, Frank Randolph, and Jim Kimsey.
Launched roughly a year ago to support local students (ages 6-18) with their creative and expository writing skills and teachers in helping inspire their students to write, 826DC is a nonprofit organization based in the District and one of eight affiliates underneath the 826 National organization umbrella, which was co-founded by award-winning author Dave Eggers out of San Francisco in 2002.

And Eggers himself, along with fellow writers Walter Isaacson, Sally Bedell Smith, Sarah Vowell, Kimiko Hahn, and Carol Muske-Dukes, were but a handful of supporters in attendance on Saturday night, along with 826 National CEO Gerald Richards and 826DC Executive Director Joe Callahan.

A decidedly literally affair designed to celebrate writing, guests, which included everyone from MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor to Venturehouse Group CEO Mark Ein, were greeted upon entry with a table piled high with books authored by students from nearby Cardozo and Woodrow Wilson high schools, as well as Eggers’ latest nonfiction work: “Zeitoun”.

They were then invited to mingle about the stately estate, all the while talking with the authors, friends, family, and members of the 826DC board of directors and staff.

Uniformed servers from Design Cuisine diligently milled about the various rooms and chilled glasses of wine and the occasional passed platter of gourmet hors d’oeuvres ensured that everyone was left wanting for nothing.

Doing the “write” thing can sometimes surely be hard, but 826DC is diligently working to make it easy!