Happy 8/26!

From FOG:TB Shlara, a reason to celebrate:

The Tiny Dictator and Doofus Overlord have ceded the floor to me today, and I’d like to invite all of the Gheorghies and FOGTBs to celebrate 826 Day with me. 

 

Today is August 26^th (8/26), which is a special day for the 826National network. (FYI, this is nothing like 4/20, you degenerates…)

You’re not familiar with 826National, you say? Well, let me tell you about it…

Dave Eggers is not impressed with your apathy

826 is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6-18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. The organization is based on the belief that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success. With this in mind, 826 provides after-school tutoring, story-telling and book-making field trips, evening and weekend writing workshops, in-school programming, help for English language learners, and student publishing opportunities, all free of charge. The programs are challenging and enjoyable, and ultimately strengthen each student’s power to express ideas effectively, creatively, confidently, and in his or her individual voice.

That sounds like the introduction to a grant letter, because it is. To get a more inspiring explanation of 826, I’ll let our founder tell you about it. If you don’t have 25 minutes now to watch Dave’s TED Prize speech, here’s the Cliff Notes version: 

It started when he was living in Brooklyn, a writer with an unconventional schedule and several friends who were teachers and educators.  There were a lot of kids in his neighborhood—many who came from disadvantaged homes—who needed some extra attention to perform better in school, and their parents either didn’t have the experience or bandwidth to support them.  So when Dave decided to relocate his publishing house, McSweeney’s, in San Francisco, he opened a multi-purpose space for writers and editors as well as a (free) tutoring center for neighborhood students. He found a building on Valencia Street in the Mission District, but there was one catch…the place was zoned for retail, so they had to set up some sort of store, to be in compliance with the regulations. The space was old and had a lot of character, and they realized that it kind of looked like the hull of a ship—so they decided to open a Pirate Supply Store complete with peg legs, hooks, leeches and planks sold by-the-foot. Right behind the Pirate Store, sat the tutoring center, and surrounding the center, the McSweeney’s staff desks. The Pirate Store piqued student’s curiosity, the free tutoring appealed to parents in the neighborhood, and Dave’s writer friends flocked to the space to volunteer. Students flourished and the center became a hipster landmark in the city.

The magic of 826 has spread to many U.S. communities and the network boasts eight official chapters so far: San Francisco, LA, Seattle, Chicago, Michigan—Ann Arbor & Detroit, Boston, New York/Brooklyn, and DC. There are also several international programs inspired by 826 (Australia, Sweden, Italy) and many more U.S. cities taking the steps to build an official 826 program in their community.

Creativity is what sets 826 apart from other writing and literacy organizations—you find it in the programs (songwriting workshops, poetry and novel-writing classes) and the people who get involved (Neil Gaiman, Christopher Hitchens, Fiona Apple, Zooey Deschanel (EDITOR'S NOTE: Wait, did you just say Zooey Deschanel?) and the events hosted by each chapter (Scrabble for Cheaters with Peter Dinklage, Books for Breakfast with legendary sportswriter Bob Ryan, Poker for Jokers with Ira Glass and Michael Ian Black, The Judd (Apatow) and Jon (Brion) Comedy & Music Hour featuring Peter Frampton, Colin Quinn and RZA). Each city’s center has the same whimsical approach, with a local twist (Robot Supply Store in Michigan, Superhero Supply Store in NYC, Time Travel Mart in LA), and all of the writing programs result in a published piece—even for the first-graders at Storytelling and Bookmaking field trips. 826 makes a measurable impact in student performance. And it changes students’ lives.

Hi, Zooey!

I was fortunate to discover the DC chapter several years ago, when they were testing the model as “Capitol Letters Writing Center.” Learned about it in Daily Candy, of all things. (If you don’t know what Daily Candy is…ask your wife.) Literacy has always been an important cause/issue to me, plus I’m one of those annoying do-gooders.  Over the years, I’ve volunteered as an adult literacy tutor (helping an adult learn to read is an incredible experience), served as an after-school tutor, weekly reading buddy and as a volunteer elementary school librarian. I created a massive reading incentive program for the Bullets/Wizards back in the day and even worked at a children’s literacy organization for a few years.  Safe to day, I know a little bit about this issue.  So it was really exciting for me to find an organization that is fresh and creative and just a little off-center, but yet completely substantive. I joined the board in 2011, and it’s one of the smartest decisions I’ve made in a while. The students constantly amaze me with their writing skills and I’ve been able to meet the most fascinating people—826 is like a magnet for creative nerdy types.

Literacy may not be your thing, but if it is, I want you to think about helping out the 826 chapter closest to you. Maybe it’s a donation of $8.26 each month for a year, maybe it’s attending one of the awesome events we host, or maybe you can spare some time to help out—volunteer with one of the writing or tutoring programs or provide some pro bono help (you’re all skilled in something).

And, if literacy isn’t your thing…go find your thing. Do something that makes an impact beyond yourself and your family. Give some serious thought to what matters to you, and where your talents/skills can be leveraged and then find something that matches. You don’t need to commit all of your free time, just some of it. And if you don’t have any free time, find time—this is important. Get involved. It’s time.