We know that despite the grumbling, despite the lack of voting rights, despite the indie rock neighborhood battles to the death, even despite the fashion sense or lack thereof, you guys love this town just as much as we do. That’s why this year we’re starting our own team for the Greater Washington Servathon 2007, the massive, annual volunteer event presented by Greater DC Cares and AOL. In addition to volunteering our time on either May 4 or 5, each participant is asked to raise just $100 by asking friends and family to donate to the cause. All the money, including your registration fee of $20 (which goes towards your $100) goes to help local nonprofit agencies run throughout the year. This year, Servathon hopes to raise $400,000 and provide 11,000 volunteer hours fixing up the community.
As they tell us on their web site, if every volunteer can raise $100, they can:
Implement 1,000 volunteer projects throughout the region;
Help provide 36,000 meals to people who are homeless or living with HIV/AIDS and other illnesses;
Provide free tools to over 200 local nonprofits though our tool “lending library” so they can upgrade their facilities; and
Paint 3,000 classrooms in local public schools
In fact, painting classrooms is just what we aim to do with our volunteers. Team DCist.com will be headed down to Hine Junior High School on May 5, from 8:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., to paint the windows, doors, and anything that looks remotely run-down. The school is located at 335 8th Street, SE, directly across the street from the Eastern Market Metro.
But we can’t do it alone! We need YOU to join us. We even picked a project that was Metro accessible, and we talk about the state of our local schools all the time on DCist, so we know you know it’s a project worth getting involved in. Yes, it’s Cinco de Mayo, but we’ll be done by lunchtime, so you’ll still have almost the whole day to wait in a block-long line at Alero for your pitchers of margs, though to get you warmed up you can join as at the after-project party at 1 p.m. at Buffalo Billiards, where Servathon will provide free food and beer to the volunteers.
