I have been trying to think of ways to give back to my community. I’ve got that covered here in my tiny French town, by volunteer work I do at the local preschool. (I spend Thursday mornings singing songs and teaching basic words in English.) But I wanted to do something in my writer’s capacity back in my home country.

I’ve donated signed books and other treats to charity auctions, but didn’t have any kind of long-term plans. And then I heard about a program in my hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. I’ll let it introduce itself:

The Desert Island Supply Co. is a nonprofit creative writing program for kids in Birmingham, Alabama. Our mission is simple: to give kids in the Birmingham area more opportunities to write.

Inspired by programs such as 826 Valencia and the Austin Bat Cave, DISCO offers free workshops and writing booths at libraries, museums, community centers, community gardens, and wherever else writing can be done.

DISCO also works with local schools and teachers on individual projects and needs — everything from preparing 10th graders for a state writing test to conducting slam poetry workshops.

Sounds good, right? Well, it sounded even better during my Skype chat last week with founder Chip Brantley.

He explained that DISCO is still a relatively new project that could use volunteers and donations and a helping hand with their new space. (In fact, if you’re in Birmingham and are free this Sunday, they need help building a giant paper-mache tentacle and a driftwood raft.)

Check out the space they’re setting up – it’s in Birmingham’s Woodlawn neighborhood and just happens to be sandwiched between two schools that they work with:
Awesome, or what? I’m just picturing where the raft and the giant tentacle will go…

So I thought that maybe…just maybe…they could use an Alabama girl who is an ocean away but who’s dying to help out. I told Chip what I had in mind, different things I could offer to the program, and he came up with some additional ideas, and in the end we basically did a virtual handshake and he told me I was on the team.

So while I’m waiting to do something important and advisory that I need to put my important-looking-glasses on for, I thought I’d just start by spreading the word.

If you’re in Birmingham, check Desert Island Supply Co. out at this week’s Eat, Drink, Read, Write Festival, where they’re doing a Food Stories storytelling event Wednesday night. If you’re not, check out their site anyway. You can donate even if you’re not able to volunteer.

Or maybe this will inspire you to find a similar writing and/or literacy program in your area that you can get involved in.

Community is what life’s all about, and programs like DISCO’s offer the perfect way to participate.