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The impact includes more than $150,000 and countless hours of volunteer time reinvested into scholarships and local charities, addressing issues from food insecurity to foster care and workforce development.
The DC Chapter, one of the largest and most active within the 7x24 Exchange network, uses membership dues and events throughout the year to build stronger connections between the data center industry and the community, including raising funds.
“The D.C. region is the largest data center market in the world, and beyond providing the physical infrastructure for the Internet, our members pride themselves in community leadership,” DC Chapter President Karen Petersburg explained. “We are your neighbors, and our members live, work, play and learn here. This community has embraced us, and we’re excited to meet the need when gaps arise.”
During its second annual Cloud Run, the DC Chapter raised $20,000 for the Dulles South Soup Kitchen and another $20,000 for the Chapter’s college scholarship fund. The event, which was held in April, drew more than 300 runners and 25 corporate sponsors.
The DC Chapter also raised $26,560 at its 14th Annual Golf Tournament, which helps expand programming for veterans, first responders, and their families at the Boulder Crest Foundation in Bluemont. The event welcomed 292 golfers, 65 sponsors and more than 40 volunteers to the Golf Club at Lansdowne.
DC Chapter members also donated hundreds of hours packing weekend meal bags for the Loudoun Education Foundation’s Fueled program, which provides food security for Loudoun County Public School students and their families.
During an evening packing event in March, chapter members packed 1,315 weekend meal bags and donated $5,000 to the program, which funds another 2,000 bags. Over years of support, the DC Chapter has donated more than $100,000 to defray costs for LEF’s Fueled program.
In preparation for the school year, the DC Chapter also donated $8,000 for backpacks, school supplies and diapers through Women Giving Back, and $3,000 for bedding sets to the Grafton School. As part of the Holiday Party festivities, they also collected more than 250 LEGO sets for kids at the Grafton School.
“Many professionals in the data center industry are parents and grandparents of school-aged kids, and we never take for granted that academic achievement starts by meeting basic needs,” 7x24 DC Chapter Board Member Lillian Rivera said. “We’re proud to help the next generation learn and thrive, and we hope many of these students will consider an empowering career in the data center industry.”
The 7x24 DC Chapter also invests in post-secondary education, offering scholarships to rising high school seniors and college students who want to pursue careers in the data center industry.
This year the DC Chapter leadership awarded $55,000 to four local students, bringing its total to $425,000 in scholarships to 115 students over the last 13 years.
In preparation for the year-end holidays, the DC Chapter donated $5,000 and provided 12 volunteers for Mobile Hope’s holiday wrapping event in November. The wrapped gifts are part of Mobile Hope’s 13th Annual Christmas Village, where local children and their families impacted by poverty and food insecurity are empowered to select Christmas gifts.
The DC Chapter also donated $5,000 for food, beverages, table décor and gifts for 50 foster kids and families at the UpsideDown Moments Winter Party in December. UpsideDown Moments provides essentials to foster kids, as well as other services for transitional youth aging out of the foster care system.
“The 7x24 DC Chapter is rooted in this community, and is committed to addressing its unique challenges,” Community Outreach Chair Trisann Ferrigno explained. “Since our inception, we have reinvested more than $700,000 and countless volunteer hours to fight hunger and homelessness and support vital community services. We’re always looking for new charitable partners, and we hope to grow our impact in 2025 and beyond.”
The DC Chapter’s next fundraiser is the Cloud Run and Community Festival on May 10, 2025. Learn more at 7x24dc.org.
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About the 7x24 Exchange DC Chapter
7×24 Exchange is the leading knowledge exchange for those who design, build, use and maintain mission-critical enterprise information infrastructures. 7×24 Exchange’s goal is to improve end-to-end reliability by promoting dialogue among these groups. The 7×24 Exchange Washington DC Chapter provides an open forum for in-region member companies to share ideas, promote critical infrastructure, and deliver on reliability.
Brian Tinsman
POUNCE Solutions
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