Example Work-A-Thon Projects
Every year Hands on DC completes hundreds of projects in approximately 30 different schools all across DC. Below are a only a small set of the various projects we complete every year.
- Installing 1,000 square yards of carpeting at Shaw Junior High School. Dozens of volunteers removed and replaced 23-year-old carpet on the school’s first floor, a job worth $15,000 at market rates.
- Painting a 150-foot mural at Thompson Elementary School. Volunteers worked with the school’s resident artist to paint a colorful mural and the school name on playground walls.
- Wiring computers for Internet connectivity. About a dozen volunteers wired a computer lab at Van Ness Elementary School to provide Internet access for students, and performed basic maintenance and configuration on another 50 computers that were donated to the school.
- Repairing water damage. Volunteers with “Our House,” a Maryland program that teaches carpentry and house building skills to at-risk youth, repaired water damage and window castings at Maury Elementary School.
- Repairing plumbing and bathroom fixtures. Plumbers and volunteers installed new sinks, toilets, and stalls at Francis Junior High School.
- Helping a football team paint the locker room. The Anacostia High School football team worked with their coach and Hands on DC volunteers to paint the school’s locker room.
- Removing graffiti. Volunteers sprayed, scraped and scrubbed graffiti from walls at Banneker High School, Garrison Elementary School, Lincoln Multicultural Middle School, and MC Terrell Elementary School.
- Building flower boxes. Volunteers at Jefferson Junior High School constructed wooden planters for the school grounds.
- Refinishing doors. A carpenter worked with students and volunteers to power-sand and apply varnish to school doors at Roper Middle School.
- Refurbishing needed storage facilities. Volunteers and students turned empty rooms into storage space by building shelving at Hayden Johnson Junior High School.
- Expanding a playground. Carpenters along with volunteers added a sandbox and benches to the Adams Elementary.