Helping children of all ages develop a love of reading and writing, is in my opinion, one of the greatest gifts you can give them. 826 National, a nonprofit tutoring, writing, and publishing organization aims to do just that. Their overall goal is to help students ages six to eighteen with their writing skills, and to help teachers get their classes excited about writing.

Currently, 826 National has eight locations across the country. 826 Valencia, located in San Francisco, is 826's flagship center. There are also sister centers in New York, Los Angeles, Ann Arbor, Chicago, Seattle, Boston, and Washington D.C.

If you live in any of these areas, and love to read, write, and help make a difference in students' lives, then you should consider volunteering some of your time with 826. As an 826 volunteer, you might be assisting students one-on-one with writing assignments, running field trips, or helping an entire classroom of students learn how to write a story.

Don't worry, if tutoring isn't really your cup of tea, 826 often needs volunteer help with more technical tasks such as grant writing, outreach, website maintenance, marketing, and much more.

If you don't live in an area that hosts an 826 center, or if you just don't have the time to make a commitment as a volunteer, you can always make a charitable donation.

Have you volunteered with 826 or any other literacy promoting non-profit? What was your experience like?