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Friends of Fort Dupont Ice Arena Makes Skating Accessible to All

At the Catalogue for Philanthropy we’re always so excited when one of our charities’ programs is in the media, especially when that media is the front page of the Washington Post! Today, Post writer Jacqueline Kantor covered the Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club, a program which is housed in the Fort Dupont Ice Arena (the Catalogue is proud to have the Friends of Fort Dupont Ice Arena as one of our Human Services charities).

Described as a “little-known secret” in Southeast D.C., the 36-year-old Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club (also known as the Fort Dupont Cannons) is the oldest club in a National Hockey League program that was designed to promote the sport in urban neighborhoods. Each week, children ages 8-18 hit the ice to not only practice the sport of hockey, but also to gain new experiences through travel, and learn important lessons such as the value of hard work and gratitude. While participation comes at no financial cost to players and their families, coaches do expect students to share their report cards with coaches and attend practice regularly. All of this seems to pay off, as the program boasts an impressive 95 percent high school graduation rate. To read the full article about the Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club in the Washington Post, click here.

Friends of Fort Dupont Ice Arena

In 1996 the goal was simple: prevent the National Park Service’s scheduled closing of the only public indoor ice arena in DC. Friends of Fort Dupont Ice Arena succeeded, not only in saving the rink, but also in creating a vibrant community resource in Ward 7. Today, the Fort Dupont Ice Arena — an America’s Promise “Safe Place” for young people with structured activities during non-school hours — offers number of programs for young people to stay fit and learn valuable lessons about life.

One of those programs, Kids On Ice, is a community ice skating program for children ages 5 to 18 years old, offering free lessons with all equipment provided. Kids on Ice programs include basic skating skills, speed and figure skating, ice hockey (see above), and more. Since all of these programs are at no cost to participants, Friends of Fort Dupont Ice Arena relies on the community to help through volunteer work, material and financial contributions.

Volunteer opportunities: Are you a medium-advanced level skater willing to lend a hand for a few hours each week? Channel your inner Dorothy Hamill or Apollo Ohno as an instructor for a Kids on Ice class! All Kids on Ice classes are taught by volunteer instructors. Each of the five programs — Basic Skills, Advanced Figure Skating, Synchronized Skating, Ice Hockey, and Speed Skating — are managed by a qualified instructor who instructs volunteers how to teach each specific class.

In addition to helping on the rink, volunteers are also needed off the rink to help with general office assistance during the week, and concessions and skate shop assistance on Saturdays. Click the “volunteer” link on the Catalogue page for details.

To donate: You can also support the Friends of Fort Dupont Ice Arena by donating equipment, offering scholarship support, or directly supporting the Kids on Ice Program through a donation to Friends of Fort Dupont Ice Arena. For $50, you can provide helmets and gloves for new ice skaters; $250: 8 weeks of Learn to Skate; $500: two skating lessons for a school group of 30 children.

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