What winning $50,000 would do for DC SCORES

We're halfway there. 

For the past 15 days -- including today -- we've asked you, over and over again, to vote for DC SCORES. 

Why, you might have asked yourself? 

Because if we accumulate the most votes during the 30-day period that the Tom's of Maine 50 States for Good contest runs, we win $50,000. It's also worth noting that if we finish in the 2nd-6th slots, we win $20,000 -- not a bad consolation prize. 

But we know how good you, our supporters, are at garnering support -- as evidenced by our victory in May's 100 Cars for Good competition -- that we've focused our sights solely on winning the grand prize, the $50,000. 

Halfway through, we're in the thick of the race, but not ahead. We need to do even better in the last 15 days. More votes. More sharing. More Tweeting. More people interacting on the Facebook event page. You name it. 

Before anyone dives headfirst in, though, we owe you an explanation. We owe you a detailed description of what, exactly, $50,000 would provide -- of what your votes are adding up to. Here's what: 

The simple lowdown: Full DC SCORES programming for two schools for a year. 

The waiting list of schools to get our free, school-based program is long. Each year, we expand as much as we sustainably can while maintaining our high-quality structure at each school. Full programming for an elementary school includes the following during 24 weeks of the school year (fall and spring): 

A five-days-a-week, full-scale program for 32 students from 3:30-6:30pm
Two soccer practices each week
Two writing/poetry workshops per week (in the fall) and service-learning sessions (in the spring)
Seven/eight DC SCORES game days at sites throughout the city (both fall and spring)
Participation in specials events such as Fall Frenzy and Jamboree!, outdoor festivals, and our highly competitive and popular Poetry Slam! in late November. 

Those are the tangibles. Of course, there is much more that the students get out of the program -- from peer-to-peer relationships to mentor relationships with coaches to daily physical activity. Add it all up, and it's no wonder that we strive to serve every child in the District deserving of such a program that provides a well-rounded after-school experience. 

We hope this is plenty of motivation for you to vote these last 15 days. We hope you'll share this blog and/or the voting link with your friends, family members and coworkers. Thanks so much for your support. 

Now let's win this thing -- and continue to expand our program to more schools. 

-- The DC SCORES team