Dave Eggers speaks at TED. I love him.

Two words, kids–Ted Talks.  For those of you who do now know what Ted is, you need to catch up. Every year the best minds are invited to give a short talk on a particular subject. It lasts for several days, and the speakers are usually incredibly accomplished and successful. One such talk this year was by Dave Eggers.  

 He started 826 Valencia, a non-profit writing workshop with a pirate supply store in the front.  It is kind of like Derek Zoolander’s center for kids who can’t read good and do other things, except a buccaneer can re-supply.  The story he tells is interesting.

 First, he recounts the beginnings of 826.  Next, he tells of how his friends in Brooklyn started a similar workshop.  Only this instead of a pirate supply shop it was a super hero supply store.  Los Angeles has one based on Time Travel.   In such a short time since the inception of 826 Valencia, similar workshops have popped up over the country.   They all have this entertaining and charming retail component in the front combined with a publishing workshop  in the back.  Next, he quickly gets into how the public (you and me, dummy) can get involved. There is something very clever in the way Mr. Eggers combines volunteerism and education with a quirky sense of humor.  Changing the faces of the centers from places of social stigma (kids nor performing well) to places where kids run to after school is fascinating.  It engages the kids as much as it does the volunteers.  Now, if only Miami had one…