Met the really, really nice people over at 826Michigan the other week.  Honestly didn’t know much about them before I walked through the door of Liberty Street Robot Supply & Repair.  For the quick read they are doing something amazing for the community in the coolest way.  At 115 E. Liberty St in Ann Arbor you will find a robot store.  A regular, walk in the front door and buy all kinds of robots and robot related toys, games and books …then you may notice this tiny store is the gateway to an entirely new land.  Very Willy Wonka.  Behind the curtain find a world of writing going on …people working and kids chatting or writing furiously as they participate in one of the many writing programs 826Michigan offers FOR FREE to kids of all shapes and sizes.

Apparently, this all started in San Francisco at 826 Valencia where a small thing like city regulations sparked a creative idea that fired-up a whole lotta good for kids.  So the story goes that in 2002 writer Dave Eggers and educator Nínive Calegari had a writing workshop for kids at 826 Valencia, but the landlord eventually told them they had to establish some sort of retail business in the storefront due to zoning/ordinances. (I’m broad brushing a bit, but this is the gist of it)  They  started a pirate shop .  Peg legs, eye balls, flags …you know, pirate stuff!  The pirate stuff now pulls in a quarter of a million a year.  A QUARTER OF A MILLION A YEAR.  Not bad for a scallywag.

So back to 826Michigan and their robots.  826Michigan is not quite to the quarter of a million mark yet, but that crazy automated look on everyone’s faces tells me it won’t take long. This thing has legs with volunteers ranging from published authors to professors, programs in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, school district involvement and the front man is a robot!  We plan to follow-up with 826Michigan by visiting one of their after-school programs.  In the meantime they have plenty going on …MittenFest IV is fast approaching so plan on spending part of your New Year’s weekend with these fantastic people.

But this week to help bring a little robot love your way we have another Tweeting contest!!!  RT our posting to have your name entered in $25 drawing for the store.  We will be drawing the name end of day on Wed, Dec 23rd which gives you plenty of time to run in for your last holiday gifts.

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