The Awesome Foundation, an organization dedicated to “forwarding the interest of Awesome in the universe” though monthly $1,000 grants, officially launched its D.C. chapter earlier this week. The Foundation, which currently boasts chapters in nine other cities and a generic “food” branch, is already accepting applications for its first D.C. grant.

So how does the system work? Well, it’s pretty simple — people come up with an awesome idea, and submit it to their local chapter’s board of directors for consideration. The person who develops the idea deemed the most awesome every month gets $1,000 to see it through. That’s pretty much it — there aren’t many regulations on what the idea has to be, other than the requirements that it be awesome, have an “impact” and “happen soon.”

Bonnie Shaw, the Dean of Awesome Foundation DC, explained to us that Washington just seemed like the kind of place where The Awesome Foundation would flourish.

“I recently moved to D.C. from Boston where I got to know Tim Hwang and Jon Pierce, two of the guys who created the foundation,” explains Shaw, whose day job is in consulting. “I was super excited to bring it to the District, and am really excited to see what awesomeness looks like in a place where people are so committed to public service and civic innovation.

“There are just so many awesome people doing awesome stuff here in D.C., and I knew that there would be plenty of awesome projects to fund,” she added.