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.