¡Obamanos!
If you’ve turned your television on today, certainly you know that our lord and savior, Barack Obama, has instituted a plan to pull America back together. One of his first acts has been the promotion of Service Day. Our deliverer Barry O. asked all of us to participate in the annual Martin Luther King, Jr Service Day.
That’s right. Annual since 1994. Did you know that? I didn’t. I assumed that this was Obama’s brain child. Especially since the website he keeps plugging is www.usaservice.org and not www.mlkday.gov. I only found out because I was googling an image for MLK day to use in the post.
I realized when I read the headline on the first article … “2009 King Day of Service Will Be Largest Ever – 12,100 Projects and Counting!” Largest ever? Of course, this may have been mentioned by Barack in the speeches he was making today or by one of the CNN anchors — if so, I missed it. I do tend to gloss over most information and retain only the main points — just enough so that I can throw in a couple of key phrases during conversations and sound like I stay informed on current events. Ok. Back to the point of my post.
I participated. Yep. I am a do-gooder and I volunteered today. Or, more accurately, I attended orientation for a volunteer program I have signed up for. I, your faithful blogger, am going to be working, free-of-charge, for Dave Eggers.
A Little Background
826NYC is modeled after 826 Valencia, a nonprofit writing lab and tutoring center located in San Francisco’s Mission District. Founded by writer Dave Eggers and a group of energetic and passionate volunteers, 826 Valencia opened its doors in April 2002. 826NYC’s writing center opened its doors in September 2004. Since then our programs have offered over one thousand students opportunities to improve their writing at our center. Our staff has grown to include 7 employees and over 1,000 volunteers.
As of 11:30 this morning I have joined the 1,000 or so volunteers for 826 NYC based at the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company.
What is the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co.?
The Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. sells capes, grappling hooks, antimatter, and more. All the proceeds from the store go directly to 826NYC. The store also gives passersby a reason to walk in and see what’s going on in the writing center.
Mission Statement
826NYC 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. Our services are structured around our 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 we provide drop-in tutoring, field trips, after-school workshops, in-schools tutoring, help for English language learners, and assistance with student publications. All of our free 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.
