Press Releases
Hands on DC Announces 2005 Public School Work-a-Thon Date
Annual event to send more than 2,000 volunteers out to improve DC public schools.Washington, DC, March 10, 2005. Once again the District of Columbia’s public schools are making headlines thanks to inadequate funding and in many cases, extreme disrepair. Jefferson Junior High School, for example, was recently in the news because of a heating system that fails to provide heat for students on the first three floors until afternoon, while turning basement classrooms into virtual saunas throughout the day. Meanwhile, Walker Jones Elementary School closed for several days last week because students and teachers were complaining of health problems related to, among other things, moldy ceiling tiles and dirty closets and bathrooms.
Examples such as those were the impetus behind the formation of Hands on DC (HoDC), an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization that conducts annual citywide work-a-thons to improve DC public schools. This year, on May 7, 2005, the group will send approximately 2,000 volunteers to 32 DC public schools, including Aiton Elementary School, Shaw Junior High School and Cardozo Senior High School.
“On almost any given day you can find stories in the papers about the deplorable state of DC’s city schools, and while Hands on DC can’t completely reverse the situation, we can make a significant difference in improving the conditions under which our city’s children learn,” said event Co-Chair Katie Ferrier.
“The positive impact a group of hard-working volunteers can have on DC schools in just one day is impressive, but HoDC’s work extends beyond a single day each spring” said Billy Pizer, event co-chair. “We try to foment long-term relationships between our volunteers and the schools they visit during the work-a-thon. Accenture’s participation at Amidon Elementary last year, for example, led them to organize their own volunteer workdays throughout the year. We also use the work-a-thon to raise scholarship funds for College Bound, a mentoring and tutoring organization for DC public school students.“
For 10 years, HoDC has worked with local community members, volunteers and sponsors to create better schools and brighter futures for the students in the District of Columbia. In its first decade, Hands on DC painted, landscaped, and improved the conditions of the District’s more than 150 schools through annual one-day work-a-thons. During this time, the community-based nonprofit organization run entirely by volunteers has raised more than $420,000 for college scholarships.
