It didn’t take long for hotel rooms near Capitol Hill to get snapped up for the inauguration, even expensive suites. But one whopper of a package, the million-dollar “Build Your Own Ball” suite and services, was picked up by a business owner in Fairfax, Va. He’s also booked $600,000 worth of additional services–all to allow scores of disadvantaged people to experience the inauguration.
Earl W. Stafford, 60, of Fairfax County, the founder of a Centreville technology company who grew up as one of 12 children of a Baptist minister, said he will provide his guests lodging, food and special access, as well as beauticians, gowns and tuxedos, if necessary.
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“We wanted to . . . bless those who otherwise wouldn’t have an opportunity to be a part of the great celebration, the inauguration and the festivities,” he said in an interview yesterday. “Our objective is to bring in a cross-section of society — those who are distressed, those who are terminally ill, those who are socially and economically disadvantaged, those veterans who are wounded and served our country.”
Stafford said the idea was inspired by his deep religious faith and the good fortune that has come his way. The inauguration is an opportunity to remember the less fortunate and remind the country of its traditions of benevolence, he said.
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