D.C. Volunteers “Spange”

On a sunny, cold Saturday afternoon a group of 7 StandUp For Kids volunteers from the Washington D.C. chapter hit the busy streets of Georgetown to raise money for the chapter by “spanging.” This term is a contraction of the phrase “spare change-ing” and is a word frequently used by our street kids. Armed with bright purple t-shirts, plastic buckets, and pamphlets, our spanging volunteers asked passersby for spare change to help the estimated 1.5 million homeless youth in this country. This experience was not only a fundraising effort, but also served to help raise public awareness of the problem of homeless youth. Additionally, this was an empathy building exercise for our volunteers, who, like the kids they serve, were often completely ignored by the people they solicited money from. It can be quite a shocking first-hand lesson in what our street kids have to endure day after day as they beg for money to survive, often with not so much as a glance from passing pedestrians. Two hours later, our volunteers had collected nearly $200 for our chapter!

Our next spanging event will take place on Saturday, December 10 in Friendship Heights.