Hang Out with Jon Scieszka, Ira Glass, and Sarah Vowell

I also know, however, that if I offer you the chance to hang you with Jon Scieszka, Ira Glass, and Sarah Vowell then you’re probably going to be more likely to READ my blog post about this great and important cause.

Okay.  So first thing first.  Are you familiar with the whole 826 McSweeneys thingy thing?  Here’s the deal.  First author Dave Eggers created 826 Valencia, a nonprofit writing lab and tutoring center located in San Francisco’s Mission District in 2002.  The result?  Huge hit.  Huge big old hit.  So in 2004 826NYC was started.  Here’s the official description:

"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."

That’s good but a little dry.  I highly suggest you watch this video about the center to get a better feel.  You see, the tutoring center is located behind a hidden door in a place of business called The Superhero Supply Store.  Now there are 826 locations around the country, and they usually have some kind of a cool store front.  There’s a pirate store, a space travel store, etc.

What does all this have to do with you getting to hang out with Scieszka, Vowell, and Glass?  I’m getting to it.  See, it’s not like a Superhero Supply Store is going to pull in the wads of cash necessary for running this kind of situation.  Even though it is run by talented volunteers it still needs a little money from time to time.