Mentor Kids and Help Their Literacy Skills at Writer’s Exchange

Do you love to interact with children and help them with their homework? Are you interested in writing workshops, doing event or program planning and fundraising? Or are you passionate about helping build your community for a better future?

If you answered “yes” to any of the question above, then volunteering at Writer’s Exchange (WE) is for you! WE is a project that provides free tutoring and creative writing programs for kids in Vancouver. According to their website, WE’s vision is that every child will have the literacy skills necessary to access a world where anything is possible. WE’s programs are offered to families and children for free, and similar to Lauren’s post about Vancouver School Board Mentorship program earlier on the ENGAGE blog, WE is also open for volunteers from any kind of backgrounds. Even if you’re not experienced working with children or do not have a writing background, you can still help WE and kids all around Vancouver!

Currently, for their fall program, WE is looking for after-school tutors and in-school workshops mentors. For after-school tutoring at 3:00 to 4:30 p.m., you can teach kids from grade 1 to 7 on Mondays and Wednesdays and kids from grade 4 to 7 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Being in-school workshops mentors, on the other hand, requires you to work on weekday mornings and afternoons with students and teachers to complete writing workshops for children.

In my opinion, these opportunities sound really great for anyone interested in working with kids or just want to contribute to a better community. Moreover, to apply as a volunteer is not a complicated process: you just need to provide two references, complete a police records check and attend a training session. Unfortunately I can’t volunteer for them as of now due to my tight schedule, but I encourage you to try and make a difference in our Vancouver community – help our future leaders build their literacy skills and participate in building a brighter future! Apply now by filling out this volunteer application form.

For more information about Writer’s Exchange, take a look at their website and details of their current programs and workshops.

Sabrina Azaria is an undergraduate in Communications with a minor in Publishing and (hopefully) a certificate in Italian. She loves reading and traveling, and currently volunteers for the third Indonesian Film Festival in North America.