Lace up your sneakers (or sharpen your pencils)

There’s just one month to prepare for this poem-a-thon

Some people ride their bicycles from one end of the state to the other to raise money for a good cause. Others walk for miles or run marathons. I love to exercise, and I love the idea of lacing up my sneakers for a good cause, but these days I don’t leave my desk long enough to log that many miles.

But there’s one fundraising challenge that suits my bookish tendencies. In November I’ll be writing 30 poems in 30 days to benefit immigrants in my community.

Each year poets from the Pioneer Valley in western Massachusetts, where I live, are invited to participate in this month-long literary equivalent of a charity road race for the Center for New Americans (CNA), a local organization that supports immigrants in our communities. Every day in November writers compose poems while friends and family make donations to encourage their efforts. The funds raised support CNA’s free English classes for immigrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers.

Last year this fundraiser added $60,000 to CNA’s efforts to support immigrants. This year’s goal is $65,000. There are two ways you can get involved:

OPTION A: Support a poet who is raising money for this poem-a-thon.

Or

OPTION B: Register to write 30 Poems and raise funds, too.

If you choose Option A, and want to support a poet, visit www.cnam.org to learn about the 30 Poems in November fundraiser, and select any poet on the list who you’d like to encourage with a donation. If you choose Option B, it’s time to start training to get in writing shape.

Try these tips to build your poetry muscles and prepare to write 30 poems in 30 days:

• First, sign up to write 30 poems in 30 days here: cnam.org As a CNA poet, you’ll be invited to take one of the free workshops that will be offered in November. (Nerissa Nields and I will each be teaching one. More on that soon.)
• Subscribe to my newsletter, where I’ll offer prompts to help generate poems that can be written in 20 minutes or less! (For our 30 Poems in 30 Days poem-a-thon, the poems just have to be written…they don’t have to be “good!” That takes the pressure off, and as a result, the poems are often not good, but GREAT! (Subscribe here: http://eepurl.com/gOPCmP)
• For more prompts and to discover your endless inner fountain of creativity, join the Dreaming on the Page “Anytime” course for only $35 (start anytime and work at your own pace). Learn more here https://dreamingonthepage.teachable.com/. Use the Coupon Code DREAM10 at checkout for 10% off if you plan to try the 30 Poems fundraising challenge.

Keep dreaming … on the page and off … for immigrants in our communities so they can make their American Dreams come true!

Learn about CNA

Donate to Tzivia’s Fundraiser

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