Writing for a Cause

I have participated in a lot of fund-raising efforts these past years: I have walked. I have sold drinks, cookies, and other yum-yums. I even danced. But never have I wrote.

Oh sure, I’ve written letters, made fliers, and prepped for telephone calls. But an actual Write-A-Thon? Does such a thing exist?

Yes. It does.

Amidst a busy schedule and settling in, I have been able to read a few articles in the lovely Writer magazine I bought oh so long ago. One article focused on the New York Writers Coalition’s (NYWC) annual Write-A-Thon.

How amazed I was to read about this woman’s part. As if in a walk-a-thon, she too asked her friends and family to pledge in order to support her whole, wonderful day of writing. Their donations, Erika Dreifus wrote, would help fund NYWC’s creative writing programs for at-risk youth, the homeless and formerly homeless, the formerly incarcerated, seniors, and others whose voices we don’t hear enough of.

Splendid, isn’t it? Imagine: a whole day dedicated to writing (whatever you want, be it a revision of an earlier piece, a free-write, word play, or journal entries) and dedicated to those who want to write, need to write, wish to see a change growing from their very hands.

This Write-A-Thon holds themes most writers believe in: Encouragement and awareness. Encourage to dream, be aware of a situation, characters who persevere, people who cry, news, and fiction—we are all writing for a cause. Don’t you think so?

If you’d like more details on NYWYC and their Write-A-Thon, please visit www.nywriterscoalition.org.

The steps we take aren’t always on foot.