80% of all donations will be sent to 826LA every time the donations pot reaches $500.*
Why literacy? Over the years, I have become convinced that literacy is a fundamental tool of activism, community building, and empowerment. In the U.S. (and in several other countries), there is a clear link between low literacy and financial instability, underemployment, and juvenile-aged crime—and it has everything to do with access to quality education. If we are to move the needle on (in)justice reform, we need to work from a variety of avenues, and we must work consistently. As my contribution, I’ve chosen to offer Gather for free to anyone who wishes to participate, and to raise funds for a literacy-focused organization, 826LA.
826 is a national non-profit organization that provides high-quality literacy and creative writing tutoring to students in public schools. They invest in their volunteers through training, in their communities through high-impact and long-term service, and they also publish student work each year in beautifully bound full-length books. 826LA is the Los Angeles chapter. You may read their brilliant strategic plan here. You can also take a look at the variety of programs they offer students—all of it, free of charge.
* In an effort to ensure the long-term sustainability of this offering, I have chosen to donate 80% of all proceeds to 827LA and to retain 20% for operational costs (ad-free practices, practice storage, curriculum development and documentation, an honorarium for any forthcoming guest-teachers who might not be able to donate their time).