Once in a blue moon, there are moments in life where your heart skips a little beat and you have to pinch yourself to make sure you are living in reality. And yesterday, we had one of those moments. We are humbled to share that RunDSM was awarded a $70,000 grant from the United Way of Central Iowa to fund yearlong Movement 515 Spoken Word + Street Art programming for youth in Des Moines Public Schools. With this money, we will bring in national and local teaching artists, purchase equipment to establish a RunDSM student deejay and necessary supplies for our visual artists, fund workshop + venue space across our city so our youth can be fully immersed in artistic spaces, and create a summer spoken word + street art camp, hiring back former Movement 515 poets and artists to keep the magic alive. This funding comes as a result of our youth having the courage to use their powerful voices, speaking up and out about issues that matter. They will play an integral part in determining where and how this money is spent, and learn the importance of management and organization. Please continue supporting United Way and the beautiful young people of our city.
