826 National is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping students, ages 6–18, improve their expository and creative writing skills at eight locations across the United States. The chapters include

826 Valencia 826 Valencia is a non-profit organization in the Mission District of San Francisco, California, United States, dedicated to helping children and young adults develop writing skills and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. It was ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

826NYC 826NYC is a nonprofit organization located in Park Slope, Brooklyn. It provides free after-school tutoring, workshops, in-schools tutoring, help for English language learners, and assistance with student publications. Drawing from a volunteer bas ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

826LA 826LA is a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6–18 with their creative and expository writing skills and helping teachers inspire their students to write. Programs are structured around the beliefs th ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, 826CHI in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, 826Michigan (serving

Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, and Ypsilanti), 826 Boston in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, 826DC in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

, an
826 New Orleans

History

The flagship chapter of 826, 826 Valencia, opened in 2002, at 826 Valencia St. in the

Mission District The Mission District (Spanish: ''Distrito de la Misión''), commonly known as The Mission (Spanish: ''La Misión''), is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Mission District's name is ...

. The original address inspired the name 826 National. It was co-founded by educator

Nínive Clements Calegari Nínive Clements Calegari is an educator in the United States. Following ten years of classroom experience in public schools, she became an author and founded a national literacy program, 826 National. She also founded The Teacher Salary Project. C ...

and author

Dave Eggers Dave Eggers (born March 12, 1970) is an American writer, editor, and publisher. He wrote the 2000 best-selling memoir ''A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius''. Eggers is also the founder of ''Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'', a lite ...

, who also founded the independent publishing house

McSweeney's McSweeney's Publishing is an American non-profit publishing house founded by Dave Eggers in 1998 and headquartered in San Francisco. Initially publishing the literary journal'' Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'', the company has moved to n ...

. In April 2010, Dave Eggers founded

ScholarMatch ScholarMatch is a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization that connects donors with prospective college students in order for them to help fund students' education. History ScholarMatch was launched in April 2010 by writer and philanthropist ...

, a nonprofit organization that aims to make higher education possible for underserved youth. ScholarMatch coordinates students with various resources, donors, scholarships, and universities to aid in the financial undertaking of pursuing a college education. Following the success and impact of 826 Valencia in its first two years, 826NYC opened its doors in 2004. In 2005, 826michigan, 826LA, and 826CHI were established, respectively. In 2007, 826 Boston joined the growing network, followed by 826DC, which opened in 2010. In 2008, a national office was established to support the chapters and act as a central hub of the 826 network. 826 National is an independent nonprofit organization that provides strategic leadership, administration, and other resources to ensure the success of its writing and tutoring centers. In addition, there are fifty 826-inspired organizations across the globe. 826 Digital support educators through 826 Digital, a new online pay-what- you-wish platform designed to help teach and ignite a love of writing. 826 National is the hub of the 826 Network: facilitating collaboration and alignment among our chapters, and bringing the 826 Network model and approach to new communities.

Store themes

Each 826 National store has an unusually-themed retail outlet. These include:

The Greater Seattle Bureau of Fearless Ideas The Greater Seattle Bureau of Fearless Ideas (formerly 826 Seattle) is a nonprofit organization located in Seattle, Washington dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers ...

, formerly called 826 Seattle, operates the Greenwood Space Travel Supply Company.

Volunteer network

826 National programs are supported by over 6,000 active volunteers of various professions, ages, cultures, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Volunteers are trained by staff members for various areas of 826 programs: After-school tutoring, the Young Authors Book Project, field trips, in-school programs, and writing workshops. Volunteers can also help in administrative jobs, such as website maintenance and graphic design.

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.826national.org/ Educational charities based in the United States Non-profit organizations based in San Francisco Organizations established in 2002 Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area 2002 establishments in California Charities based in California