Charity Ball

The History of The Charity Ball

For nearly 130 years, the Charity Ball event has helped the Women's Board raise funds to support patient care and research programs at Akron Children’s Hospital.

The Charity Ball is an Akron tradition that began in 1895. The event celebrates and honors local families for giving back to the greater Akron community through generations of volunteerism and philanthropy. With the exception of an eight-year hiatus from 1900-1907 and a global pandemic in 2020, the Charity Ball has continued to honor families in this unique and time-honored tradition.

High school graduates whose families have been instrumental in the founding, maintaining and serving of the greater Akron community are selected to participate in the Charity Ball. In 1951, the event began presenting debutantes to the community (originally called the cotillion) and it has become a highlight of the evening. The presentation is a moment of great pride for each girl as she is announced and takes a bow alongside her presenter. The moment provides an unmatched level of excitement for the family – parents, siblings, grandparents and friends – as it highlights the past and hopes to inspire the next generation of philanthropy and service.

The original purpose of the Charity Ball was to raise money to help operate and sustain the Mary Day Nursery (now Akron Children's Hospital). The Charity Ball has gone on to provide more than a century of fundraising to support the hospital in a number of ways - from providing essential linens and towels in the early days to establishing and modernizing departments such as Ear, Nose and Throat, Lab and X-ray and Burn Center, as well as funding expenses for a variety of department needs, hospital equipment and building expansion.