<>Through workshops, summer camps and after-school programs, Denver Writes gets area children excited about writing. Volunteers help by tutoring, mentoring, and teaching the students. By actively recruiting volunteers that are enthusiastic about writing and storytelling, volunteers get just as much out of it as the students do.

鈥淭here鈥檚 this creative energy that the kids have, and when they are excited about something, it makes you excited about writing,鈥� says volunteer Kevin Peterson.

鈥淵ou really don鈥檛 have to do much, they already have it in them,鈥� he continues, 鈥淚t鈥檚 the most creatively fulfilling thing I鈥檝e ever done.鈥�

Workshop topics run the gamut of writing projects: poetry, movie reviews, short stories, novels and songwriting are just a few themes Denver Writes has approached. It鈥檚 not just about writing though, explains Program Director Kate Alderete.

鈥淧art of our mission is that the kids have a supportive community as well as a supportive space where they can be creative.鈥� That is accomplished by making a welcoming space in the basement of Metropolis Coffee, where workshops take place.

Jason Kellermeyer of the Board of Directors sees the change in students very clearly.

鈥淭he transformation happens when the kid realizes that you鈥檙e on the same page as them; that you鈥檙e into the same thing, and that you鈥檙e into writing. They can get the same enjoyment out of it by creating their own worlds.鈥�

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