So you set your own hours. Wondering what to do with that extra time you spend Googling yourself and watching cats flush the toilet on YouTube? Volunteer as a tutor at 826CHI, a nonprofit tutoring, writing, and publishing organization modeled after the successes of 826Valencia in San Francisco. The brainchild of author Dave Eggers, the flagship center on Valencia Street is now home to 826 National, an umbrella organization that adapts the 826 model to sister centers in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Seattle, Ann Arbor, and right here in Chicago on Milwaukee Avenue in Wicker Park.

A trademark of each center, aside from the heavy emphasis on one-on-one attention and fostering each child’s writing skills, is the “supply store”: Valencia has a pirate store that sells pegs legs and pirate perfumes while Brooklyn has a superhero supply store with capes and secret identity kits. Chicago’s The Boring Store is by no means a store for spies (wink wink).

 The wonderful aspect of 826 is their focus on publishing, and centers have long been committed to creating a tangible compilation of kids’ (ages 8-18) writing. 826CHI’s latest student publication, Right in Front of Us, is written by 47 Chicago high school students and includes an introduction by author Alex Kotlowitz. Buy it at The Boring Store (1331 N. Milwaukee Ave) or through Amazon. If you’re interested in volunteering or donating, please support our young (and future) writers!