Last Friday, August 9, Georgetown Ministry Center had its very first outing, and we were able to take a group of our amazing members to a Nationals Game! Thanks to superstar volunteer Maggie Handel, we were able to invite the members in our center who regularly help us keep our center and our alley clean, who help staff manage the computer lab, and who help diffuse heated situations in the center. It felt great to be able to thank and celebrate our members!

After Maggie and Stephanie had their request for Nationals tickets approved, Maggie arranged for transportation and food. Most people take the Metro or Circulator to the game and have to deal with massive traffic and crowds. Not us! We arrived and left in style via American River Taxi! Everyone loved riding on the water taxi, and seeing the monuments from the Potomac was breathtaking.

Shaun Guevarra, President of American River Taxi, was able to offer us round-trip tickets for the price of one-way tickets, and we were able to raise 87% of our transportation cost through our small fundraiser on Crowdrise. A huge thank you goes out to everyone who donated and helped get the word out for us.

Once we arrived at the stadium, we picked up half smokes, chips, and drinks courtesty of Ben’s Chili Bowl concession stand and made our way over to our seats. As we chowed down on our dogs, we watched the Nationals’ score go up and up.

The highlight of the night? Look who caught a ball that was hit straight into the middle of our group!

It was such a wonderful night. Great weather, great people, great game. Thank you so much to everyone who helped make this night possible and to our wonderful guests who help clean our center and alley day after day!

Check out the rest of the Photo album on our Facebook page!

Please join GMC staff, board members, and volunteers in giving back to the DC Public Schools that support GMC!

Join Team GMC at the DC Pubic School’s Beautification Day on Saturday, August 24 from 9am to 1pm. This annual DCPS event was established in 2005 as a citywide “spruce up” of all DC public school buildings in preparation for the first day of school. Beautification efforts will include landscaping, trash pick-up, light painting, planting flowers, and other external beautification efforts.

We are hoping to be placed at either Hyde-Addison Elementary School (O Street NW) and/or Stoddert Elementary (Calvert St). Both of these schools have been amazing supporters during GMC’s Help the Homeless campaign and have had their students walk for our help the homeless fundraiser. Georgetown Ministry Center would like to say thank you for their years of support by supporting them!

We will be registering as a group under Georgetown Ministry Center’s name, so please fill out the form below if you would like to be part of Team GMC.

More informations about the DCPS can be found here.

It’s almost time for our favorite event of the year!

Come sample Georgetown’s finest restaurants on Saturday, June 1, 2013 from 11am-4pm along Wisconsin Ave below M Street.

Delectable dishes, beer and wine tastings, and live music come together to make this event one you shouldn’t miss. Organized by the Georgetown Business Improvement District and Grace Church, the Taste of Georgetown raises money to help support GMC. Last year, the Taste raised $25,000 for us and has raised over $100,000 since 2004! Let’s keep that going; buy your tickets in advance and skip the lines at the event.

If you are interested in volunteering at the Taste, please contact Jordan Culberson at the Georgetown BID at (202) 298-9222 x204.

GMC will be closed on June 1 for the Taste of Georgetown.

This past Saturday, Holy Trinity Catholic Church held a day of community service for its parishioners called the Power of One. We were lucky enough to have six wonderful and enthusiastic volunteers from Holy Trinity bring snacks to GMC and spend the afternoon playing bingo and singing karaoke with our members!

Our guests munched on cookies and strawberries as they played bingo for prizes ranging from shoe inserts to candy. Marty from Holy Trinity set up his karaoke machine, and everyone had such a blast! People were amazed by the pipes some of our members have been keeping a secret. Everyone also got up and did the YMCA at one point. It was such a fun time, and everyone is already asking us when we’re going to do it again.

Help the Homeless Art Contest

Every year, Fannie Mae hosts the annual Help the Homeless Art Contest, a leading component of the Help the Homeless Program’s public awareness and fundraising campaign. This year, we invite students from area schools and children’s organizations nationwide in grades K through 8 to participate in the 2013 Help the Homeless Art Contest.

The 2013 Help the Homeless Art Contest encourages students to express their artistic talents to produce creative artwork that represent home. There will be one student chosen to have their artwork featured on the Help the Homeless website, in social media, and on other promotional items.

Artwork must be submitted by Friday, March 29, 2013. Please click the links below to read the official guidelines, the waiver, and to view past winners.

Help the Homeless Art Contest Guidelines

Help the Homeless Art Contest Waiver

Help the Homeless Previous Art Contest Winners