Washington Spirit In the Community
We at the Washington Spirit realize the importance of being actively involved in the community where we live, work and play. Our goal is to make an impact both on and off the soccer field and inspire positive change within our community. Through our community and corporate partnerships, we aim to have a meaningful and long-lasting impact in the Washington DC metropolitan area and beyond.
DC Scores
In 1994, Julie Kennedy, a teacher at Marie Reed Elementary School, founded DC SCORES. The organization uses a unique combination of soccer, poetry, and service-learning to create neighborhood teams that give 3,000 kids in need the confidence and skills to succeed on the playing field, in the classroom, and in life.
Youth Leadership Foundation (YLF)
YLF was founded by Edward Smith, the first African American tenured professor at American University, in 1997. The organization provides mentoring, educational and character-building programs to youth in the Nation’s Capital. The program has seen 97% of the kids that participate in YLF graduate high school and 80% graduate college.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is the world leader in treatments and cures for childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing and food, because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.
Children’s National Hospital
With a health care experience designed around kids’ unique needs, Children’s National Hospital is the premier provider of pediatric services in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Last year, Children’s National saw more than 219,000 children from the Nation’s Capital, Maryland and Virginia as well as from across the country and around the world.
Comfort Cases
Rob and Reece Scheer founded Comfort Cases in 2013. The 
organization provides children currently in foster care a special bag of comforting items such as a blanket, pajamas, and stuffed animals. Comfort Cases aims to inspire communities to bring dignity and hope to youth in foster care. Since its inception, the organization has delivered over 75,000 Comfort Cases to children who have transitioned into foster care.
Kids Enjoy Exercise Now Greater DC-Baltimore
Founded by Elliott and Estee Portnoy in 1992, Greater DC-Baltimore KEEN empowers kids with disabilities by providing free, non-competitive, one-to-one programs of exercise, fitness and fun, led by volunteer coaches. Currently, KEEN Greater DC-Baltimore provides more than 1,300 program hours each month to over 500 children, teens and young adults with significant developmental and physical disabilities.
Teens Run DC
TRDC was founded in 2009. The organization empowers underserved youth to envision and work towards the achievement of personal goals through a youth mentoring and distance running program. Since its inception, TRDC has grown to serve 450 middle and high school students throughout the District of Columbia.
