PAST EVENTS WITH PHOTOS

A fun time was had by all our princes and princesses at our annual  Rachel's Royal Tea Party. Tea and treats were served while  our littlest guests dressed up in their tea party and prince and  princess finest to model for everyone.  Crafts were enjoyed by the  kiddos and moms and dads left with a beautiful swag bag full of beauty  and skin care goodies graciously donated by Moment of Grace and Jitka Jacobs. Jitka also donated the fabulous grand prize raffle basket.  This  annual event is in memory of Rachel Crossett, who lost her battle to  cancer more than 2 decades ago at the age of 6. Rachel was a girly girl  who loved the color red, roses, and tea parties. DC Candlelighters is  privileged to honor her memory in this way every year. Photos here: Rachel's Royal Tea Party 2023

We had the pleasure of sending several families to the White House Easter Egg Roll!  In addition to the time-honored traditions of rolling and hunting eggs, this year’s White House Easter “EGGucation” Roll featured a School House Activity Area, full of fun educational activities for families. The Talent Show stage on the South Lawn featured exciting educational acts and presentations including a rousing performance by the Broadway company of The Lion King.  Families came together for some special story time with children’s book authors and special guests, including First Lady Jill Biden reading “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” while her grandson, Beau Biden held the book for her.  The event also included special snacks and treats, music by the The United States Air Force Band, Army Band and Navy Band, and a field trip to the farm where children learned about how farmers help feed our families.

A great time was had by all at our very first Casino Night! Guests enjoyed a wonderful evening of speeches, recognizing volunteers and catching up with old friends. Together we celebrated our (now adult), childhood cancer survivors and remembered our dear Angels. Our donors and benefactors ensured that guests had many opportunities to bid on silent auction items, as well as enjoy a raffle give away and professional gaming tables. We are grateful to the Knights of Columbus who hosted our event,  and provided the delicious appetizers and beverages. Thank you as well to our many corporate donors and individual sponsors.  The night would not have been complete without Ted  Showker and his SillyShotz fun photo booth.  Photos here: 2023 Casino Night. 

Our families, volunteers, and partners enjoyed a wonderful afternoon of holiday cheer! Thank you to Chantilly Youth Association for providing a workshop venue where Santa's elves,  Wildcats vs. Cancer, were busy wrapping gifts. Many thanks to Centreville Presbyterian Church for hosting our party. Thanks as well to the Northern Virginia Parks for providing admission tickets for our families to attend the Bull Run Festival of Lights. DC Candlelighters Children  (and their siblings) also received presents (thank you donors!), met with other organizations (Summer Grace Foundation, Make-a-Wish, Still Brave and Special Love) and smiled for our cameras.  Photos here: Holiday 2022.  Click here for photos by SillyShotz (use password 1211). To initiate the automatic download, click here.  

We are grateful to the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors for inviting us to their Top Producers in Tinseltown Holiday Party. Thanks to all who stopped by our table! Photos here: NVAR Holiday 2022

Our families had a spook-tacular time at our annual Halloween Event in the Inova Shar Cancer Institute's garage. We saw plenty of costumed kids and parents, and were well-supported by the Wildcats vs. Cancer and other organizations. Thank you! Click here for photo link. Click here for photos by SillyShotz.  

After a two year hiatus due to COVID, we held our annual Cox Farms Family event The weather was perfect for our families. A special thank you to Cox Farms and to Mr. and Mrs. Cox for welcoming our DC Candlelighters families to your farm! Cox Farms is a great family place with so much for the children to do, including hay rides, lots of slides, rope swings, farm animals, pumpkins, and great food including apple cider, apple cider donuts, and pie! They even have a ‘Fields of Fear’ for the older teens. Photos here: Fun on the Farm 2022

A Kid Again partnered with DC Candlelighters to bring our families a fun filled day at Kings Dominion. This trip was dedicated to Margy Jost, our wonderful “Play Lady”. Families received admission to the park along with parking and lunch. DC Candlelighters provided families with $50 and buttons to remember Margy by. The day started off rainy but the clouds gave way to a beautiful day. Photos here:  Kings Dominion  Adventure 2022

Family Fun Day was held at Burke Lake Park on Like most June days, it was definitely hot so the “Super Soaker” water cannon fight helped to cool everyone down. There were lots of games including: gunny sack and 3-legged races, bingo and jumbo connect four. A huge thank you to The Italian Store for donating pizza for this event. Another thank you to Balloons by Mike for helping make our warriors smile. Photos here: Family Fun Day  2022

Alex’s Army hosted a Push-ups for Childhood Cancer event at Battlefield High School Stadium to try to break the Guinness World Record for the most people performing push-ups. Unfortunately we did not break the Guinness World Record but we did bring a community together to help raise awareness for Childhood Cancer. With nearly 1,100 people in attendance we came close, but just not close enough to break that record.  Photos here:  Push-Ups for Childhood Cancer 2022

DC Candlelighters partnered with the Value Village Thrift Store to collect your gently-used items to assist children and their families in their FIGHT AGAINST CANCER. 100% of the proceeds from the items donated go to the children and their families. Our first collection was held on May 14th. Our goal was to collect 1,500 full Large Yard Bags (avg. 20 lbs.) and 450 Medium boxes (household goods) and raise $6,000. Thanks to your outstanding support, we are off to a great start. Photos here:  FUNDrive Summer  2022

On May 6th, DC Candlelighters held a raffle for two tickets to a Washington Nationals game and added an additional $115 to spend on parking, metro tickets, or food at the stadium, etc. Thank you for all your support for this fundraiser!

DC Candlelighters was able to send a family to the 2022 White House Easter Egg Roll. Our Board of Directors works very hard to secure tickets to events throughout the year that we can share with our families fighting cancer.

Begun during the Covid pandemic, our families enjoyed a night of bingo where participants won gift cards. Pre-pandemic, the event took place in-person. 

We hope everyone enjoyed our 2nd Annual Holiday Drive-Through Event! Santa cozied up to Mrs. Claus and took pictures with the families after we handed out their presents as families drove through the parking lot of the Centreville Presbyterian Church, Centreville, VA, again this year. Thank you to the many families that donated presents so these children could have an extra special holiday!Thank you to everyone for participating and helping make this event so successful for our families! After families collected presents and visited with Santa, they were treated to tickets to the Bull Run “Festival of Lights“. All of the wonderful gifts are wrapped by the hard working volunteers with Wildcats vs Cancer. Thank you for your volunteering and continued support year after year! A huge thank you to these organizations for helping to make the event so special.

• Silly Shotz
• Special Love
• Make-A-Wish
• Hope Cam
• Still Brave

Photos here: Holiday Party 2021

We hope everyone had a wonderful time at our 2nd Annual Drive-Through Event!

Thank you everyone for participating and helping to make this year’s Halloween Drive-Through a successful and fun event! The kids and families had a great time and we all strive to make it even better each year. Thank you especially to the hard working volunteers with Wildcats vs Cancer who set up the decorations and helped run the games.

A huge thank you to all of our volunteers who made the event so special, we could not have done this without all of your generosity and help!

• Toony & Friends * Bubbles, Balloons & Clowns.
• 501 Legion * Star Wars Characters
• Silly Shotz * Family Photos
• Special Love * Monster Corn Hole
• Still Brave * Slime Dump

Thanks to Young Hearts volunteers who ran our first Car Bingo feature. It was a hit!

Thank you to the Inova Schar Cancer Institute for the use of the parking garage.

Photos here:  Halloween Party 2021 Plenty of photos were taken by Ted Showker with SillyShotz Photo Booth Company. To view these, click here. 

MARGY JOST – WIFE, MOTHER, NONY, SISTER, PLAY LADY, FRIEND

Some people come into our lives and leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never the same. Margy Jost, did exactly that. She was a light to so many families with children fighting cancer for more than two decades. Everyone at the pediatric oncology clinic knew her as the “play lady” because she occupied our kids while they were getting chemo and impacted all our lives in ways we never could have imagined, even years later. Margy was a significant part of our lives at DC Candlelighters so we held a Celebration of Life at Burke Lake Park in Fairfax, VA. Many of us had the joy of going to Kings Dominion with Margy and enjoying the day with our family and other families with children being treated for cancer. It was a special time that allowed us to forget, just for a day, exactly what we were up against, and spend time with other families. We asked Margy’s husband, Ken, and daughter, Kristy, what DC Candlelighters could do to honor Margy’s memory and they have requested that we
continue the tradition of a trip to Kings Dominion for families currently in treatment. Please help honor Margy by making a donation to DC Candlelighters in honor of Margy so that we may keep her tradition alive for our families.

A huge thank you to Peter McCory the “One-Man Band” for helping to make the event so special.

Photos here: Margy Jost Celebration of Life 2021

This year’s Family Fun Day was held at Burke Lake Park. It was an especially hot day so the “Super Soaker” water cannon fight made for lots of fun for everyone. There were lots of games including: gunny sack and 3-legged races, bingo and jumbo connect four. A huge thank you to Balloons by Mike for helping to make the event so special. Photos here: Family Fun Day 2021

This year’s Mother Daughter Spa night was changed to a Zoom session due to COVID. Families were able to pick-up kits so their daughters could make tutus while their moms had a chance to relax and do a facial for themselves right from home. Spa activities were provided by Mary Kay, Celia Faulk Photos here: Mother Daughter Spa Zoom 2021

We hope everyone enjoyed our 1st Annual Holiday Drive-Through Event!

Again due to COVID, we had to change our plans for an in-person Holiday Party and move outside with Santa. We handed out presents as families drove through the parking lot of the Centreville Presbyterian Church, Centreville, VA.

Thank you to the many families that donated presents so these children could have an extra special holiday! Thank you to everyone for participating and helping make this event so successful for our families! After families collected presents and visited with Santa, then they were treated to tickets to the Bull Run “Festival of Lights“.

All of the wonderful gifts are wrapped by the hard working volunteers with Wildcats vs Cancer. Thank you for your volunteering and continued support year after year!

A huge thank you to these organizations for helping to make the event so special.

• Silly Shotz
• Special Love
• Still Brave

Photos  here: Holiday Party 2020

We hope everyone had a wonderful time at our 1st Annual Drive-Through Event!

Thank you everyone for participating and helping to make this year’s COVID essential Halloween Drive-Through event a successful and fun event! The kids and families had a great time and we all strive to make it even better next year. The drive-through event was held at the Inova Schar Cancer Institute, Employee Parking Garage, 8081 Innovation Park Drive, Fairfax, VA.

Thank you especially to the hard working volunteers with Wildcats vs Cancer who set up the decorations and helped run the DC Candlelighters games: Dinosaur “Fishing” Game, Cornhole and a Fortune Teller.

A huge thank you to all of our volunteers that made the event so special, we could not have done this without all of your generosity and help!

• Toony & Friends * Bubbles, Balloons & Clowns.
• 501 Legion * Star Wars Characters
• Silly Shotz * Family Photos
• Team Mathias * Toys
• Cornerstone Flooring * Game
• Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce * Pumpkin Hula Toss
• Special Love * Mystery Ring Toss
• Still Brave * Slime Dump

Photos here:  Halloween Party 2020 Plenty of photos were taken by Ted Showker with SillyShotz Photo Booth Company. 

While the girls were busy having fun, the moms were whisked away to be pampered (massages, hair done and more) by Moment of Grace! Plenty of photos were taken as well thanks to Ted Showker with SillyShotz Photo Booth Company and Flashes of Hope.

A huge thank you to all of our volunteers that made the event so special, we could not have done this without all of your generosity and help! Thank you to Life With Cancer for the facility use. Photos here:  Mother Daughter Spa Night 2020 To view and download the photos courtesy of SillyShotz  – SillyShotz Mother Daughter 20

We held our annual Holiday Party in December and what a joyous event it was!  All of the wonderful gifts are wrapped before the party by Santa’s Elves AKA the Chantilly Youth Association.  Thank you all for your volunteering and wrapping all of the presents! Photos here: HOLIDAY PARTY PHOTOS 2019 View and Download the Santa Photos:  SANTA PHOTOS 2019 View the SillyShotz photos: SillyShotz Holiday Party 2019. Thank you to all of the volunteers that helped make this event so amazing! Our annual Holiday Party is made possible because of all the donations we receive throughout the year. Thank you from all of us at DC Candlelighters to everyone that has donated!

What a fun night we all had at our 10th Annual Halloween Party! We enjoyed seeing all the wonderful costumes. Thank you to Life With Cancer for letting us use your facilities for the event! Thanks to everyone who helped make our 9th Annual Halloween party such a success!

We held our annual Cox Farms Family event, and what a beautiful fall day it was!  We had many families attend and everyone had so much fun!  There were many smiles and giggles.

A special thank you to Cox Farms and to to Mr. and Mrs Cox for welcoming our DC Candlelighters families to your farm! Cox Farms, it is a great family place with so much for the children to do including hay rides, farm animals, great food, apple cider, apple cider donuts, pie, and plenty of slides! They even have a ‘Fields of Fear’ for the older teens.

What a wonderful day it was at our Take It To The Alley Event in Leesburg Virginia! We had face painting with Sir Toony Van Dukes and Balloons By Mike, plenty of auctions, food from the yummy King Street Oyster Food Truck, and participants got to shave their heads. All towards a great cause so we can support more families with children fighting childhood cancer!

Thank you to the King Street Oyster Bar in Leesburg, Virginia! Even Leo The Leesburg Bear made an appearance! Thank you to all our supporters! 

What a wonderful and fun time we all had at Rachel’s Princess Tea Party.  There was plenty of yummy food and treats and tea.  We had very special guests as there was Princesses as well.  The best part was all the little girls got to participate in a fashion show and dress up in wonderful outfits and model them! Thank you to Toby from Irish Eyes Photography by Toby for taking all the wonderful photos!

View photos here Rachel’s Princess Tea Party Photos. The password is TEA19 (cap)

What a fun filled evening we all had at our annual Family Bingo Night. We had a large crowd attending and gave away many wonderful prizes! For those who attended, we hope you had a wonderful and fun evening. Thank you to Life With Cancer for use of the facility, and to all of our volunteers that helped and to all of our Board Members for making this a very magical night!

We hope everyone had a wonderful time at our annual Mother Daughter Spa Night!

While the girls were busy having fun, the moms were whisked away to be pampered (massages, hair done and more) by Moment of Grace and volunteers from the Red Door Spa!

At the end of the night the girls and the mothers received gift bags full of wonderful gifts. Thank you to Wax and Oils and Autumn Russell from Lather. for the wonderful gifts that we included in the gifts bags. Plenty of photos were taken as well thanks to Ted Showker with SillyShotz Photo Booth Company and Flashes of Hope, and Wildcats VS Cancer. A huge thank you to all of our volunteers including Wildcats VS Cancer, Leigh Anne Monk, and all of our volunteers that made the event so special, we could not have done this without all of your generosity and help! A special thank you to Evelyn Phan for the delicious cupcakes! Thank you Joy to the Kids Princesses for entertaining and singing with the children! Thank you to Life With Cancer for the facility use. Photos here: Mother Daughter Spa Night 2019

We  held our annual DC Candlelighters and Growing Hope Holiday Party on  December 2nd.  What a joyous event it was!  We had over 70 families  attend the event this year!  We hope you all had a wonderful time.   Below is all of the photos from the wrapping party to the event and  meeting Santa.  All  of the wonderful gifts are wrapped before the party by Santa’s Elves AKA  the Chantilly Youth Association.  Thank you all for your volunteering  and wrapping all of the presents! View and Download the Wrapping Party Photos: CYA Wrapping Party 2018

View and Download the Holiday Photos: HOLIDAY PARTY PHOTOS 2018

View and Download the Family Santa Photos: HOLIDAY PARTY SANTA PHOTOS 2018 View the SillyShotz photos: SillyShotz Holiday Party 2018.  You can also download all the SillyShotz photos using this link: DOWNLOAD SillyShotz Photos – The link is valid for 2 weeks, password is 1202.  

Thank you to all of the volunteers that helped make this event so amazing!  

• 501st Legion Garrison Tyranus
• Joy To The Kids Princesses
• Mia Saunders Ballet
• James Madison High School Madrigals
• Centreville High School Wildcats vs. Cancer
• Chantilly Youth Association
• The Linus Project
• Evelyn Phan
• Red Headed Cupcakes
• LeeAnn Monk with Equity Rise Real Estate
• SillyShotz Photo Booth (Ted Showker)
• Sir Tooney Van Dukes (Mike Becvar)
• Face Painters  
  • Mike Becvar
  • Carol Collins
  • Violeta Peith
  • Melanie Walker
• Balloon Artists 
  • Karan Robins
  • Justin Hamilton

And thank you to ALL of our AMAZING VOLUNTEERS that helped set up and clean and make sure all the families had a wonderful time! Also Thank You to Michelle Bloxton at BluSage Catering for the yummy food! A  special thank you to Margy Jost and Growing Hope, we are so thankful for  your partnership, assistance and Gift Cards for the families over the  years.  You truly have made this event a wonderful and memorable time  for the families. Our  annual Holiday Party is made possible because of all the donations we  receive throughout the year. Thank you from DC  Candlelighters to everyone who donated!

What a fun night we all had at our 9th Annual Halloween Party! We enjoyed seeing all the wonderful costumes. Thank you to Growing Hope for providing all of the delicious food, and to Life With Cancer for letting us use your facilities for the event! Thanks to everyone who helped make our 9th Annual Halloween party such a success! A special thank you to CVHS Wildcats vs. Cancer, Ted Showker with Sillyshotz Photobooth Company, Mike Becvar with Sir Toony Van Dukes and Balloons By Mike and the balloon artist Violeta Peith and the bubble artist Carol Collins and to all of our wonderful volunteers and Board Members! Photos here HALLOWEEN PHOTOS A special thank you to CVHS Wildcats vs. Cancer and to our Board Member Jeannie Buhr for capturing some great photos! To view and download all of the Sillyshotz Photos click here: Sillyshotz Halloween Party 2018 enter the passcode 1020.

Yesterday was our annual Cox Farms event, and what a beautiful fall day it was!  We had over 20 families attend the event and everyone had so much fun!  There were many smiles and giggles.

A special thank you to Cox Farms and to to Mr. and Mrs Cox for welcoming our DC Candlelighters families to your farm! If you have not been to Cox Farms, it is a great family place with so much for the children to do including hay rides, farm animals, great food, apple cider, apple cider donuts, pie, and plenty of slides! They even have a ‘Fields of Fear’ for the older teens.

Thank you to everyone who attended our event and danced through the decades with us!  Thank you to everyone who donated so that we can continue all of our programs and services. 

Our annual DC Candlelighter’s ‘Father Son Night’ that was held at Life with Cancer.

There was plenty of yummy food from Moe’s all thanks to Growing Hope! We had plenty of indoor and outdoor games, including a BB8 piñata, and water balloon and soaker games at the end. Thank you to the Dunn Loring Fire Department for stopping by to show the children your Fire Truck and Ambulance.  Also thank you to the 501st Garrison Tyranus for attending, the children loved all of your Star Wars costumes. Thank you to Ted Showker with Silly Shotz Photo Booth for capturing fun photos, and Mike Becvar (Sir Toony Van Dukes and Balloons By Mike) for painting the childrens faces and making amazing balloon creations. hank you too all of the volunteers including Mary Williamson and Cathy Bottrell and to all of our Board Members for making another great and memorable event for the children and families. Photos here Father Son Night 2018 Photos

What a fun filled evening we all had at our annual Family Bingo Night. The food was delicious and provided by Growing Hope. We had a large crowd with over 60 people attending and gave away every single prize we had! For those who attended, we hope you had a wonderful and fun evening. Thank you to Life With Cancer for use of the facility, and to Growing Hope for providing all of the food, and to all of our volunteers that helped and to all of our Board Members for making this magical night the best Bingo Night!

What a wonderful and fun time we all had at Rachel’s Princess Tea Party.  There was plenty of yummy food and treats and tea.  We had very special guests as there was Princesses as well.  The best part was all the little girls got to participate in a fashion show and dress up in wonderful outfits and model them!

Thank you to Toby from Irish Eyes Photography by Toby for taking all the wonderful photos! Photos here Rachel’s Princess Tea Party Photos. The password is R2018. If you would like to download the photos without the watermark please contact dccandlelighters@gmail.com

We had a great time in the PSV clinic today with our Coffee/Treats/Crafts event for St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, and Spring. 

We hope everyone had a wonderful time at our annual Mother Daughter Spa Night. It was such a fun evening filled with many memories. We started the evening off with plenty of delicious food all thanks to Growing Hope! After dinner, the girls had their nails and make up done, received hand and foot massages, received plenty of bling, created crafts, created their own sugar scrubs and potpourri, and sang with Cinderella. While the girls were busy having fun, the moms were whisked away to be pampered (massages, hair done and more) by Moment of Grace and volunteers from the Red Door Spa!

At the end of the night the girls and the mothers received gift bags full of wonderful gifts. Thank you to the following vendors who donated their wonderful products for the gift bags: Wax and Oils for the wonderful soy candles, Robin Motts with LipSense for the gift certificates, Red Door Spa for the cute soaps, Tracy Calvert with Nice and Iced Cookies for the amazing Spa cookies, Melissa Fischer with Pure Haven for the lip balms, Catherine Hart with Hart To Hand for the beautiful decals, and to Autumn Russell for the amazing gift bags from Lather.

Plenty of photos were taken as well thanks to Ted Showker with SillyShotz Photo Booth Company and Flashes of Hope, Liyandra Aranjuez from Wildcats VS Cancer and Dominique Martinez. A huge thank you to all of our volunteers including Wildcats VS Cancer, Tooca Fardanesh, Leigh Anne Monk and your amazing daughter, April and Evelyn Brabant, and Evelyn Phan for the delicious cupcakes!

Thank you Rachel Gray, the CEO and founder of Joy to the Kids for entertaining and singing with the children, you are a beautiful princess!

Thank you to Life With Cancer for the facility use. Thank you to all of our amazing DC Candlelighter Board Members and to everyone who helped, we could not have done this without all of your generosity and help!

Photos here: Mother Daughter Spa Night 2018