Signature Programs/Fundraisers
Family-to-Family
Courage
During the past five seasons, Courage Caps allowed the Capitals to raise more than $575,000 for Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, a nonprofit organization that helps families of the fallen. Since its inception the Courage program has raised more than $775,000 for worthwhile charities, including Our Military Kids, USO-Metro and The Fisher House Foundation. Through the program nearly 22,500 Courage hats have been sold in nine years and nearly 11,250 Courage T-shirts have been sold in seven years.
Playworks of Greater Washington DC
Through this partnership, MSE Foundation hosts the annual Playworks Junior Coach Leadership Conference at Capital One Arena, sponsors basketball, hockey and football extravaganzas and hosts an MLK Day of Service volunteer project at a Playworks school.
Playworks of Greater Washington DC is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play throughout the school day. Playworks transforms schools by helping schools, and districts make the most of recess through on-site staffing, consultative support, professional development, free resources and more. Playworks currently partners with eight public and public charter schools serving 4,000 students and trains another 150 educators per month in the Washington metropolitan area.
D.C. Public Schools and District of Columbia College Access Program
All three Monumental Sports & Entertainment teams collaborated on MSE Foundation’s partnership to “adopt” a local school through Serve DC – The Mayor’s Office on Volunteerism and D.C. Public Schools (DCPS), which the Capitals became involved with in 2009. For the 2018-19 school year, MSE Foundation and its teams adopted Hendley Elementary School, a Title I D.C. Public School located in Ward 8 that serves nearly 500 children in PK3 through fifth grade.
MSE Foundation funded $40,000 in college scholarships in our teams’ names for DCPS and D.C. public charter school students through the District of Columbia College Access Program (DC-CAP). The Wizards $10,000 scholarship is awarded to a male-student athlete basketball player, the Mystics $10,000 scholarship to a female student-athlete basketball player, the Capitals $10,000 scholarship to a student-athlete hockey player and the Valor $10,000 scholarship to a to a D.C. student-athlete football player. Each student is awarded $2,500 a year for four years. Applicants must have participated in organized basketball, football or hockey and write an essay about what inspired them to play, what lessons they learned from the sport and how those lessons will help them in college and the workforce.
Everybody Wins! DC
Monumental Sports & Entertainment staff members participate in the Everybody Wins! DC Power Lunch program, a literacy and mentoring program based in select elementary schools in the Washington metropolitan area. The goal of Power Lunch is to encourage children’s interest in reading, expand their opportunities for success and facilitate meaningful volunteer contributions.
Through the Power Lunch program, MSE staff members, including employees from the Capitals, Mystics, Wizards, Valor and Capital One Arena, are paired with students at Garrison Elementary School in Washington, D.C., and Key Elementary School in Arlington, Va. Each week during the school year, MSE staff members take time out of their day to visit with their mentees, spending time reading and sharing conversation during the lunch hour. MSE also hosts an employee book drive during the holidays to collect books that are donated to Everybody Wins! DC.
KaBOOM!
Flashes of Hope
Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation supports Flashes of Hope, helping to fund its Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia chapters. As a part of the partnership, players from the Capitals, Go-Go, Mystics and Wizards participate in photo shoots with local patients with life-threatening illnesses from MedStar Georgetown University Hospital and Caps Fight Cancer partner organizations.
MSE Foundation donated more than $31,000 to Flashes of Hope in 2018, raised through an auction held during the Capitals Hockey Fights Cancer night in November.
The Capitals, Mystics and Wizards partner with NBC4 to host the Food 4 Families food drive at Capital One Arena. Players, coaches, team spouses, mascots and staff help collect food and monetary donations during this day-long food drive. MSE Foundation provides a monetary donation to the cause, which provides food to families in need throughout the region during Thanksgiving.
Potomac Valley Amateur Hockey Association
PVAHA is an affiliate of the Southeastern District of USA Hockey and is the governing body of all amateur hockey within the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia
NHL Hockey is for Everyone Scholarship Fund
Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation proudly supports the NHL’s Thurgood Marshall College Fund. This academic scholarship is part of the partnership between the NHL and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund for participants in the NHL’s Hockey is for Everyone (HIFE) initiative, the league’s official youth development program. MSE Foundation earmarks its contributions for HIFE participants from the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.
Hockey is for Everyone provides support and unique programming to nonprofit youth hockey organizations across North America that are committed to offering children of all backgrounds opportunities to play hockey. The initiative is supported by NHL member clubs, players, alumni and fans.
Capitals Canine Calendars
The Washington Capitals and Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation team up to create and sell Capitals Canine Calendars, which raised more than $177,000 for Homeward Trails Animal Rescue during the 2018-19 season. These calendars feature photos of Capitals players with their dogs or with dogs from Homeward Trails Animal Rescue and the Stanley Cup.
Capitals License Plates
Capitals license plates are available to drivers in the states of Maryland and Virginia. Fans who purchase these license plates are not only showing their Caps spirit, but also are supporting charity as a portion of the fees benefit Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation. Since the inception of the Maryland and Virginia Caps license plates programs, more than $110,000 has been raised for the Foundation.
For the ninth-straight year all three Monumental Sports & Entertainment sports teams collaborated on the Family-to-Family program, which the Wizards created more than 20 years ago. The program allows the Capitals, Mystics and Wizards to “adopt” families in need who are nominated by local schools and nonprofit organizations. During the 2019 holiday season 22 families were adopted by MSE Foundation.
The families selected for participation in the Family-to-Family program were nominated by local schools and nonprofit organizations, including Martha's Table, Hendley Elementary School, Bright Beginnings and The Salvation Army National Capital Area Command.
Courage
MSE Foundation donated more than $140,000 to Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) through its Courage Caps program presented by Telos Corporation. Courage Caps and T-shirts were sold at Capitals home games, online at WashingtonCaps.com and at the team stores at Kettler Capitals Iceplex and Capital One Arena. There were also a limited number of autographed Courage Caps and T-shirts available.
During the program launch, American players Taylor Chorney, Matt Niskanen, Brooks Orpik, T.J. Oshie and Nate Schmidt hosted nearly 130 surviving military children and adult loved ones who have found healing through TAPS at a skating party at Kettler Capitals Iceplex. Attendees participated in an hour-long skating session with the Capitals players, mascot Slapshot and Red Rockers.
During the past five seasons, Courage Caps allowed the Capitals to raise more than $575,000 for Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, a nonprofit organization that helps families of the fallen. Since its inception the Courage program has raised more than $775,000 for worthwhile charities, including Our Military Kids, USO-Metro and The Fisher House Foundation. Through the program nearly 22,500 Courage hats have been sold in nine years and nearly 11,250 Courage T-shirts have been sold in seven years.
Playworks of Greater Washington DC
MSE Foundation partnered with Playworks of Greater Washington DC, providing a $25,000 grant and programming for the 2018-19 school year. Playworks is currently in 13 public and public charter schools in Washington, D.C., bringing safe, meaningful play to thousands of students every day.
Through this partnership, MSE Foundation hosts the annual Playworks Junior Coach Leadership Conference at Capital One Arena, sponsors basketball, hockey and football extravaganzas and hosts an MLK Day of Service volunteer project at a Playworks school.
Playworks of Greater Washington DC is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play throughout the school day. Playworks transforms schools by helping schools, and districts make the most of recess through on-site staffing, consultative support, professional development, free resources and more. Playworks currently partners with eight public and public charter schools serving 4,000 students and trains another 150 educators per month in the Washington metropolitan area.
D.C. Public Schools and District of Columbia College Access Program
All three Monumental Sports & Entertainment teams collaborated on MSE Foundation’s partnership to “adopt” a local school through Serve DC – The Mayor’s Office on Volunteerism and D.C. Public Schools (DCPS), which the Capitals became involved with in 2009. For the 2018-19 school year, MSE Foundation and its teams adopted Hendley Elementary School, a Title I D.C. Public School located in Ward 8 that serves nearly 500 children in PK3 through fifth grade.
MSE Foundation funded $40,000 in college scholarships in our teams’ names for DCPS and D.C. public charter school students through the District of Columbia College Access Program (DC-CAP). The Wizards $10,000 scholarship is awarded to a male-student athlete basketball player, the Mystics $10,000 scholarship to a female student-athlete basketball player, the Capitals $10,000 scholarship to a student-athlete hockey player and the Valor $10,000 scholarship to a to a D.C. student-athlete football player. Each student is awarded $2,500 a year for four years. Applicants must have participated in organized basketball, football or hockey and write an essay about what inspired them to play, what lessons they learned from the sport and how those lessons will help them in college and the workforce.
DC-CAP is a nonprofit organization working in partnership with the District of Columbia Public and Public Charter School Systems that provides counseling and financial assistance to students who might otherwise never have the opportunity to attend or graduate from college. DC-CAP also works in partnership with the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), the corporate community, colleges, universities and other college access programs. The overwhelming majority of students served by DC-CAP are from low-income, minority, single-parent households and are the first in their families to attend college.
Everybody Wins! DC
Monumental Sports & Entertainment staff members participate in the Everybody Wins! DC Power Lunch program, a literacy and mentoring program based in select elementary schools in the Washington metropolitan area. The goal of Power Lunch is to encourage children’s interest in reading, expand their opportunities for success and facilitate meaningful volunteer contributions.
Through the Power Lunch program, MSE staff members, including employees from the Capitals, Mystics, Wizards, Valor and Capital One Arena, are paired with students at Garrison Elementary School in Washington, D.C., and Key Elementary School in Arlington, Va. Each week during the school year, MSE staff members take time out of their day to visit with their mentees, spending time reading and sharing conversation during the lunch hour. MSE also hosts an employee book drive during the holidays to collect books that are donated to Everybody Wins! DC.
KaBOOM!
On Sept. 27, 2019, more than 200 volunteers from Monumental Sports & Entertainment, Eagle Academy Public Charter School and members of the Ward 8 community gathered on the grounds of Eagle Academy Public Charter School at Fairlawn to transform the once empty site into a kid-designed, state-of-the-art playground with the help of KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit focused on providing under-resourced communities with safe places to play. MSE participants included Founder, Chairman, Principal Partner and Chief Executive Officer Ted Leonsis; Wizards players Admiral Schofield and Ish Smith; and Vice President of Player Engagement for Monumental Basketball John Thompson III.
In 2011, the Capitals and So Kids Can partnered with KaBOOM! to create a Capitals-themed playground at Associates for Renewal in Education in Washington, D.C., and, in 2012, the groups combined their charitable might once again to build a playground with the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority at Hopkins-Tancil Court in Alexandria, Va. The first KaBOOM! playground was built 24 years ago in Washington, D.C., Since then, KaBOOM! has engaged more than one million volunteers and thousands of community and funding partners, all of whom have played a vital role in helping develop health-oriented environments for children.
The new playground at Eagle Academy Public Charter School at Fairlawn, which features the Capitals, Mystics, Wizards and Go-Go in its design, is part of a broader effort led by Monumental Sports and KaBOOM! to ensure communities have great interactive play spaces for kids and families.
This project illuminates the core values of KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit dedicated to giving all kids - especially those living in poverty - the childhood they deserve through great, safe places to play. KaBOOM! inspires communities to make play the easy choice and works to drive the national discussion about the importance of PLAYces. KaBOOM! has collaborated with partners to build or improve more than 17,000 play spaces, engaging over 1.5 million volunteers and serving nearly 10 million kids.
Every KaBOOM! project also incorporates a unique flare of youthful creativity in its design. KaBOOM! gives children the opportunity to design the spaces they will play in. In July, kids from the surrounding community participated in Design Day, where they creatively drew their dream play space. Eagle Academy Public Charter School's new playground is based off their drawings and will provide thousands of kids in Washington, D.C., with a fun, safe place to play.
Flashes of Hope
Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation supports Flashes of Hope, helping to fund its Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia chapters. As a part of the partnership, players from the Capitals, Go-Go, Mystics and Wizards participate in photo shoots with local patients with life-threatening illnesses from MedStar Georgetown University Hospital and Caps Fight Cancer partner organizations.
MSE Foundation donated more than $31,000 to Flashes of Hope in 2018, raised through an auction held during the Capitals Hockey Fights Cancer night in November.
Flashes of Hope is a nonprofit organization that changes the way children with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses see themselves through the gift of photography and raises money for pediatric cancer research. Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation currently helps fund the Flashes of Hope chapters in Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia.
Food 4 FamiliesThe Capitals, Mystics and Wizards partner with NBC4 to host the Food 4 Families food drive at Capital One Arena. Players, coaches, team spouses, mascots and staff help collect food and monetary donations during this day-long food drive. MSE Foundation provides a monetary donation to the cause, which provides food to families in need throughout the region during Thanksgiving.
Potomac Valley Amateur Hockey Association
For the tenth year in a row, the Washington Capitals and MSE Foundation partnered with the Potomac Valley Amateur Hockey Association (PVAHA), providing a $25,000 grant. This money helps fund the John Crerar Hockey Development and Chris Dernetz Disabled Hockey grant programs and was distributed to 21 area hockey programs during the 2018-19 season. The Crerar grant program increases participation and promotes hockey within Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. The Dernetz grant program assists USA Disabled Hockey Programs within PVAHA. Since 2009 the Capitals have granted more than $250,000 to PVAHA.
PVAHA is an affiliate of the Southeastern District of USA Hockey and is the governing body of all amateur hockey within the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia
NHL Hockey is for Everyone Scholarship Fund
Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation proudly supports the NHL’s Thurgood Marshall College Fund. This academic scholarship is part of the partnership between the NHL and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund for participants in the NHL’s Hockey is for Everyone (HIFE) initiative, the league’s official youth development program. MSE Foundation earmarks its contributions for HIFE participants from the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.
Hockey is for Everyone provides support and unique programming to nonprofit youth hockey organizations across North America that are committed to offering children of all backgrounds opportunities to play hockey. The initiative is supported by NHL member clubs, players, alumni and fans.
Capitals Canine Calendars
The Washington Capitals and Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation team up to create and sell Capitals Canine Calendars, which raised more than $177,000 for Homeward Trails Animal Rescue during the 2018-19 season. These calendars feature photos of Capitals players with their dogs or with dogs from Homeward Trails Animal Rescue and the Stanley Cup.
Capitals License Plates
Capitals license plates are available to drivers in the states of Maryland and Virginia. Fans who purchase these license plates are not only showing their Caps spirit, but also are supporting charity as a portion of the fees benefit Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation. Since the inception of the Maryland and Virginia Caps license plates programs, more than $110,000 has been raised for the Foundation.