Right. Dunno if we’ve been properly introduced.
Hi, my name is Ed, and I’m part of the Chicago IF Group, and I would like your money.
Peter Nepstad(you might know him from the film GET LAMP, and also his staggering contribution to the IF canon: 1893) and I are participating in 826CHI’s Clandestine Quest, which is a fundraiser where all the money and dollars and things go straight to 826. For those of you not familiar with 826, it is an organization founded by Dave Eggers to promote writing and literacy skills in children. For those not familiar with the Quest, it is a scavenger hunt all across Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. The more money we raise, the more cheating we get to do. The more cheating, the more likely we are to triumph, and spread the good name of IF everywhere.
Here’s a blurb!
“826CHI is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. Our services are structured around the understanding 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, after-school workshops, field trips, in-school tutoring, help for English language learners, and assistance with student publications.”
Essentially, they’re a super rad group with a focus on boosting children’s confidence in writing. I’ve been working with their Louder than a Bomb team recently, and it has been tremendously rewarding. All their programs are free to the students. Fantastic place.
How does this tie in to IF, aside from Peter and I both being stalwarts in the Chicago IF “scene”? We’re working on putting together a proposal for an IF workshop for 826! Is there a direct correlation between this fundraiser, and our proposal? Unfortunately not, but! BUT! Money from this event will certainly support 826CHI’s continued operation, and by extension, any future workshops presented there.
I know, I know, tl/dr, but I think this is important, and reaching out to you folks was worth a shot. If you want more information on the Quest, click http://www.826chi.org/quest/. If you just want to go to our donation page, we’re the Bureau of IF. It’s this link: http://www.826chi.org/quest/teams/bureau.html
Anyway. Thank you for reading, and if you do decide to donate, thank you even more. I honestly appreciate it quite a rather lot.