One Night One Goal Breaks Records, Raising More Than $655,000 for DC SCORES
D.C. showed up at Audi Field for DC SCORES’ biggest annual fundraiser.
DC SCORES celebrated its most successful One Night One Goal to date at Audi Field, raising more than $655,000 to support poet-athletes across the District. The record-breaking total arrives at a pivotal moment as rising costs and funding challenges forced the organization to pause programming at some schools.
More than 500 guests including community leaders, alumni, parents, partners, professional poets, and Washington Spirit and D.C. United players filled the room on October 6 to support DC SCORES’ soccer, poetry and service-learning programs.
Every dollar raised goes directly to DC SCORES programming. In this challenging year, the successful event was more important than ever as it will help protect our current programs and ensure we don’t need to pause any additional schools in the spring.
The evening was co-hosted by DC SCORES Chief of Culture and Arts Charity Blackwell and Washington Spirit forward (and DC SCORES boardmember) Ashley Hatch, with BJ Jennings leading the auction. The 2026 One Night One Goal co-chairs were Hatch and Kim Stone of the Washington Spirit, Danita Johnson of D.C. United, Melissa Schulman of CVS Health, and Joe Del Guercio of Brown Advisory.
After a three-year hiatus, the Poetry Lounge, presented by AV and supported by Busboys and Poets, also made its comeback. D.C. United’s Lucas Bartlett and the Washington Spirit’s Ashley Hatch, Kaylie Collins, and retired defender Gaby Vincent traded their cleats for the mic, channeling their inner poet-athletes to perform original poems. Spoken word artists and singers rounded out the lounge, with Orville the Poet, K Love the Poet, Marjan Naderi, J’Ta, and others keeping guests captivated from the first verse to the last note!
Paddles Up for DC SCORES Poet-Athletes
Guests mingled with Washington Spirit and D.C. United stars bid on live and silent auction items from some of the biggest sports and arts organizations in the DMV. Eight experiences went up for bid in the live auction, with Spirit and United players cheering on the action. Highlights included an art experience with DC artist Trap Bob, a special training session with Hatch and Collins, a private cooking class Chef Laura Calderone of Relish and Spirit players, a field-side suite for the USWNT v. Spain match at Audi Field, and so much more. The silent auction brought its own heat, with a signed Lionel Messi Inter Miami jersey and NWSL gear among the items bidders chased.
During the paddle raise, Washington Spirit CEO Kim Stone and D.C. United’s Danita Johnson announced an additional $60,000 in gifts from the two ownership groups. Both teams are long-standing DC SCORES community partners, and their generosity set the tone for a room full of raised paddles.
DC SCORES is incredibly grateful to everyone who made the night possible, including its lead sponsors Brown Advisory, CVS Health, Audi, AV, the Washington Spirit, and D.C. United (for a full list of sponsors, click here), as well as the host committee, volunteers, auction donors, bidders, and every guest who showed up for the 2,500 young people DC SCORES serves.
View the full One Night One Goal photo album here.
