Celebrating the Start of Another School Year

In August, the weather in the Bay Area can sometimes be a little too hot to handle, but there’s another type of heating up that all of us at 826 live for — the start to another adventure-filled school year.

Last week, we kicked off the new semester (and along with it, our school-year programs) with a yearbook-themed event to welcome our volunteers, both new and returning. Attendees entered the transformed interior of our Tenderloin Center to find piles of books and games and a station loaded with delectable food. Bakesale dreams really did come true with the choice of not just one, but two, flavors of pound cake, a mountain of pizza and an ocean of hummus and pita!

The evening was filled with a plethora of chocolate-bar giveaways and whimsical activities — from comic book making to a photobooth and “dark room.” Our wall was covered with bright and bubbly collaborative wall poetry (a personal favorite? “vivid purple pufferfish want our love”), and our tables were stacked with notes containing back-to-school advice for our students.

And of course, we had to do a little business amid the festivities: volunteers signed up for shifts on the spot, and our calendar (and hearts!) brimmed with joy. We cherish all of the support and involvement of each and every one of our volunteers, and we are excited to make this fall the best one yet. Couldn’t make it to the party? We’d love to celebrate you in our programs! Head over to the volunteer calendar to sign up, or fill out a volunteer application to get involved.

A special thank you to all of the community vendors — Burger Joint, Standard Deviant Brewing, Beer Hall, Curry Up Now, Andytown Coffee, Dandelion Chocolate, Tartine, Himalayan Pizza and Momo, and Fort Point Beer — who helped to make this event possible through their generous donations. We are always so delighted to have such endless support from our community. We can’t wait to see you all this fall!