DC SCORES First Step
Holiday Giving Campaign 2025
This holiday season, help more District youth step into Poet-Athlete power with DC SCORES!
Support Poet-Athletes
Make a Gift
Between Giving Tuesday (December 2) and the end of 2025, our goal is to raise $100,000 to support our award-winning after-school programs and help more young people take their first steps as DC SCORES Poet-Athletes.
Step Into Community
Your Impact
Every school year, hundreds of young people take their first steps into the DC SCORES program. When new Poet-Athletes participate in their first practice session, soccer match, or poetry performance, they join more than the 3,500 young people whose lives are being transformed by DC SCORES.
We provide safe and joyful spaces where young people can find friendship, grow into leaders, and develop the confidence to make a difference in the world. When you give to DC SCORES, you are part of a community that is building the future of our city. Help us reach our holiday giving campaign goal of $100,000 by making a gift today.
Our Stories
Step Into Service
Natasha Dupee
DC SCORES gave Natasha Dupee her first opportunity to speak in front of a crowd. She learned that words mean power, and today she uses Natasha uses voice to advocate for her city as a public servant!
Step Into Performance
Carter Sewell
When Carter Sewell joined our program, she thought poetry was boring. But her first step on the DC SCORES Slam changed everything. Learn more about how DC SCORES sparked Carter's passion for performance!
Step Into Community
The Johnson Siblings
Danielle and Danny Johnson were among the first Poet-Athletes to join DC SCORES. Today, they say that DC SCORES defined who they are today and gave them a life-long community of friends and mentors.
Our Vision
Poet-Athlete City
Your support is integral to our long-term vision: to reach every Title 1 public middle and elementary school in the city. We call this vision Poet-Athlete City.
For more than 30 years, we’ve been helping young people build strong, supportive local communities through our award-winning after-school soccer, poetry, and service programs. We want to reach a new generation of young people who need DC SCORES. We currently serve 70% of Title 1 middle and elementary schools in the District — by 2030, we want to be in all of them.
