Washington, D.C
Washington D.C. Sports Teams Unite for Community Safety on 2024 Wear Orange Weekend – Monumental Sports
Washington, D.C. (June 7, 2024) – Local professional sports teams the Washington Capitals, Commanders, Nationals, Mystics, Spirit, Wizards, DC Shadow, D.C. United and Capital City Go-Go today announced their renewed commitment to community safety as they prepare to wear orange on Gun Violence Awareness Weekend. This marks the third consecutive year that D.C. sports teams have come together to combat violence in the area, while encouraging fans to do the same.
“Our teams are honored to call D.C. home, and we are proud to come together to make our community a better, safer place for us all,” the teams said in a joint statement. “This weekend, we ask our fans to stand with us as we say ENOUGH, and work to end gun violence.”
On Wear Orange Weekend from Friday, June 7, through Sunday, June 9, local teams playing at home will show their support in a variety of ways, outlined below. Efforts will kick off Friday with the Mystics in-game activations as they host the Indiana Fever at Capital One Arena. The Spirit will highlight the initiative during their home game on Saturday, June 8, as will the Nationals on Sunday, June 9.
Through the campaign’s first two years, D.C. team’s combined efforts have raised more than $200,000 for community-based violence intervention programs through donations from the teams and D.C. area sports fans.
Additional information on how individual teams are supporting gun violence awareness on Wear Orange Weekend, and how fans can get involved, can be found below.
Washington Nationals
- The Washington Nationals will raise funds and awareness at the ballpark on June 9 for the Everytown Community Safety Fund, a program of Everytown For Gun Safety Support Fund.
- All proceeds from the 5050 Raffle at the game will benefit the Everytown Community Safety Fund, a program of Everytown For Gun Safety Support Fund. Proceeds will benefit local DMV organizations implementing community-based violence interruption programs as a core component of a comprehensive approach to reducing gun violence.
- Fans can purchase 5050 raffle tickets in person or at org/5050
- Game day staff will don orange ribbons for the cause.
- All proceeds from the 5050 Raffle at the game will benefit the Everytown Community Safety Fund, a program of Everytown For Gun Safety Support Fund. Proceeds will benefit local DMV organizations implementing community-based violence interruption programs as a core component of a comprehensive approach to reducing gun violence.
- To bring awareness to Wear Orange Weekend to fans, the Nationals will host representatives from other D.C. sports teams on the field on Sunday, June 9.
- Representatives from participating D.C. sports teams will join together on the field for pre-game ceremonies.
- Washington Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels will throw out the game’s ceremonial first pitch on behalf of the Commanders rookie class, which is making a special group trip to Nationals Park on Sunday.
- The Commanders rookie class will also attend the game on behalf of the organization.
- Nationals Philanthropies continues its support of and collaboration with Peace for DC, which hosts Peace Academy trainings at the Nationals Youth Baseball Academy’s Ward 7 facility.
Washington Mystics, Wizards, Capitals and Capital City Go-Go
- The Mystics will host their “Wear Orange” game for the sixth year in a row on June 7. To highlight Wear Orange Weekend, the team will:
- Host a pre-game panel discussion about gun violence prevention in the DMV at District E Powered by Ticketmaster
- Commemorate National Wear Orange Weekend with a full orange LED takeover at Capital One Arena
- Give away Wear Orange towels for every fan in attendance
- Highlight gun violence prevention facts and calls to action from Everytown For Gun Safety during timeouts.
- Present a halftime performance by Bootsy Collins, a grammy-award winning Artist for Action and advocate for gun violence prevention
- Display the I Wear Orange photobooth mural on the concourse
- Showcase concourse activations by Artist for Action featuring a Knotted Gun Display and Sandy Hook Promise TablinG
- Donate $25K to the TraRon Center, a DC based non-profit organization committed to helping those affected by gun violence heal through the arts, in a half court check presentation featuring MSE owners Ted Leonsis and Sheila Johnson
- Donate all proceeds from the MSE Foundation’s 50/50 Raffle at the game to the Everytown Community Safety Fund, a program of Everytown For Gun Safety Support Fund. Proceeds will benefit local DMV organizations implementing community-based violence interruption programs as a core component of a comprehensive approach to reducing gun violence
- The Washington Wizards have partnered with the Alliance of Concerned Men to support their work to the eradicate violence for all communities, focusing on reduction, mitigation, and prevention. During the 2023-24 NBA season, the partners hosted a Youth Basketball Clinic at Kimball Elementary School for Jr. NBA Week.
- MSE teams have collectively made calls to action for fans to donate to national gun violence prevention groups in support of Wear Orange efforts, broadcasted statistics and data on the affect gun violence has in the DC community and supported dedicated initiatives annually.
Washington Commanders
- The Washington Commanders, in collaboration with a coalition of D.C. sports teams, are contributing funds toward Everytown Community Safety Fund, a program of Everytown For Gun Safety Support Fund.
- The team will leverage its social platforms to share important stories from select team Legends impacted by gun violence in an effort to bring awareness to Wear Orange Weekend.
- The Commanders will have players and coaches in attendance for the Washington Nationals game on June 9 where the Nationals are supporting and recognizing National Gun Violence Awareness Month
D.C. United
Washington Spirit
- The Washington Spirit will provide ongoing partnership and grant support for Peace for DC’s work, providing training and resources for educators and coaches working with youth in communities experiencing high crime and violence rates.
- The Washington Spirit will continue to support Friends of Anacostia Park’s mission to provide healing spaces and respite programming in areas most affected by gun violence.
- The Washington Spirit will show support on social media platforms.
DC Shadow
- DC Shadow players and staff will wear an orange ribbon on the front during warmups for their away game in Atlanta on Saturday, June 8.
- DC Shadow will recognize the work of Peace For DC and their community-based violence prevention partners through their social media platforms.
- DC Shadow will solicit contributions to Peace For DC through its social media platforms during the days surrounding Wear Orange Weekend.
About Washington Nationals Philanthropies
Washington Nationals Philanthropies is the official charitable arm of the Washington Nationals. Its mission is to help children, families, and communities thrive through sports-based youth development and access to healthy food. The organization delivers on this commitment by spurring investment in community-based programs that address the disparity of opportunity for residents of the region. Since 2007, the foundation has issued over $6.8 million in grants to local organizations. Through its signature program, the Nationals Youth Baseball Academy, the organization operates year-round youth development and baseball instruction activities, as well as a holistic food access program – supporting the delivery of nearly 1 million meals into the Washington, DC region since 2018. Since 2013, the organization has invested $42 million for facility construction and annual programming through the Academy. For more information about Nationals Philanthropies, visit nats4good.org.
About Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation
MSE Foundation is committed to making the region a better place for all by supporting game-changing solutions for our community. We fundraise, provide grants to nonprofits and rally Monumental Sports & Entertainment’s teams and fans to support and amplify the impact of community change agents. Together, we’re raising the game in the DMV. Learn more at: www.monumentalfoundation.org.
About the D.C. United Foundation
The D.C. United Foundation harnesses the power of soccer to reach underserved communities in the D.C. area and give youth the tools necessary to soar on and off the pitch. The D.C. United Foundation is an extension of D.C. United, the Major League Soccer Club located in Washington, D.C., and we prioritize serving populations that lack equitable access to important resources, educating and empowering the next generation and using our platform to lift people up and support their visions. Our work is centered around programming and partners that encourage and provide opportunities for community members to thrive, unite and have essential support. For more information visit dcunited.com/foundation.
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Where better to celebrate America’s 250th birthday and the country’s rich history than the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. A new exhibit, which opened Thursday, tells the United States’ 250-year history with 250 objects.
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250 objects for 250 years at the National Museum of American History
Where better to celebrate America’s 250th birthday and the country’s rich history than the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in D.C. A new exhibit, which opened Thursday, tells the United States’ 250-year history with 250 objects.
Visitors will see the museum mainstays like the original American flag that inspired the “Star Spangled Banner” and the desk where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, but the new exhibit “In Pursuit of Life, Liberty & Happiness,” will also show some artifacts never before displayed.
“A surfboard that was used by Duke Kahanamoku, who is a Native Hawaiian surfer who really popularized surfing to the world. He was an Olympian and we have his massive, 9-foot surfboard that he shaped in Southern California in 1928,” said Theo Gonzalves, a curator at the National Museum of American History.
The exhibit covers the history of the nation through political action, including a sweater worn by a young woman during a school walkout during the Civil Rights Movement and a Tea Party sign from the 2010s.
It also delves into military history with the Revolutionary War’s gunboat “Philadelphia,” and a uniform worn by Gen. George Washington.
Pop culture, lifestyle and entertainment are also front and center.
“We have a Nintendo game set and so there are folks that are looking at their at that Nintendo game set, and they’re thinking, ‘I can’t believe that that’s now part of history,’” Gonzalves said. “I’m old enough to realize what Nintendo was for our generation, but it is part of American history.”
Megan Smith, the head of experience development at the museum, said a seemingly mundane object is one of her favorite artifacts in the museum.
“Hidden in a kind of boring looking exterior, which is a file cabinet that contains over 52,000 jokes written by Phyllis Diller,” she said. “Phyllis Diller was one of the first female stand-up comedians in America. It’s just an ordinary filing cabinet, but it’s filled with her career basically, and her creative process and all of her knowledge.”
Scientific and technological achievement throughout American history is also celebrated, including the first radiocarbon dating machine from the 1950s.
Anthea Hartig, the Elizabeth MacMillan director of the museum, said staff at the museum had to whittle down nearly 2 million artifacts to 250 artifacts that define American history.
“To take 2 million to get down to 250, and the curators did a beautiful job. The whole team did a lot of thinking about what are those objects that help show us in action as a people? Help understand the dreams that we’ve put into the declaration, how it’s expanded, who it includes,” she told WTOP.
She said the exhibit is the brainchild of over three years of curation work.
The National Museum of American History is open every day but Christmas.
“I hope people see themselves reflected in our work and in these objects,“ Hartig said.
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Washington, D.C
The Work Behind the Welcome: NPS Tradespeople Restore Dupont Circle, Making D.C. Safer and More Beautiful (U.S. National Park Service)
NPS / Kelsey Graczyk
The hands behind the place
This work took more than plans. It took craftsmen and craftswomen.
NPS carpenters, masons, maintenance workers, preservation specialists, engineers and landscape architects worked together to renew the circle from the ground up. Crews installed about 10,000 feet of wood slats, cut and placed dowels, sanded rough surfaces, repaired worn concrete legs and painted benches to withstand weather and daily use.
Contractors also repaired fountain pipes and restored stone and marble features, returning moving water to the heart of the circle.
“I used to write project plans for this kind of work,” retired NPS Asset Manager Fred Francis said. “Now I’m out here helping do it. I’m working with a great group of people who are experts in their fields.”
Homelessness in the D.C. region ticked up slightly from 2025 to 2026, according to a new report from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.
Homelessness in the D.C. region ticked up slightly from 2025 to 2026, according to a new report from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.
Christine Hong, chair of the council’s Homeless Services Committee and chief of services to End and Prevent Homelessness with the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, presented the findings at the council’s Wednesday meeting.
The report centers on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s mandated point-in-time count of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January.
“This year, the count was conducted on Feb. 4. We had to postpone it one week due to the extreme cold and winter weather event that we experienced the week prior,” Hong said. “Although it’s an imperfect measure, it provides an important regional snapshot of homelessness on a single night.”
The D.C. region reported 9,790 total people experiencing homelessness, an increase of 131 people or about 1% from 2025. The year-over-year regional change was modest. This count is closer in line to the 2019 number, before the pandemic.
“The regional story is that homelessness fell during the pandemic era, a period when expanded federal resources and emergency protections were in place, and then increased after those temporary supports ended,” Hong said. “The main takeaway is that regional homelessness is no longer increasing at the pace seen in 2023 and 2024, and is in line with the years immediately preceding the pandemic.”
Results varied by jurisdiction.
D.C. had the largest numerical increase, with 225 additional people counted. Prince George’s County, Maryland, had 175 additional people counted, a 29% increase. Montgomery County saw the largest decrease, down by 390 people or 26%. Hong pointed to the county’s investment in short-term housing.
“Montgomery County also spent a great deal to expand emergency shelter for families, because we are committed to ensuring no family with children would sleep outside even one night,” she said.
The count also included detailed information on race, veterans and household types.
“The broader evidence is clear, and is referenced in the report, that housing costs and the cost of living are major drivers of homelessness risk, especially for families with low income,” Hong said. “In practical terms, this means family homelessness is closely tied to whether low-income families can find and maintain housing.”
Read the full report here.
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© 2026 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
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