MWC is participating in this year’s #GivingTuesday on December 3 to kick off our year-end fundraising campaign to support our 2020 general operations and programs, which includes our annual Writers’ Conference, Children’s Literature Festival, Young Emerging Writers Internship Program and Middle School Camp, and many more events and opportunities. 

“Writing saved my life.”

This is a quote from one of our terrific 2019 Young Emerging Writers, a student at Mid-City High School in Davenport. Along with 16 other interns, she spent seven weeks this summer in intensive workshops, developing creativity, learning professional skills in a team environment, and cultivating self-confidence. Later this month, she will compete in the public speaking event at the JAG National Student Leadership Academy in Washington D.C., which is a big difference from where she was a year ago.

Another intern who recently graduated from Moline High School, said of YEW after returning in 2019 for her second year, tells us “YEW has been absolutely life-changing each time I’ve participated in it, and will forever be grateful that I had the opportunity to study under the faculty and with my YEW peers.” But the role writing can play in our personal development is not exclusive to our youth programs; we believe that such benefits come from all of our programs—and all kinds of writing.

We believe that everyone is, or can be, a writer (or “one who writes”), and we know writing can be a positive force in everyone’s lives. From improving professional communications to finding new forms of self-expression; from better organizing our thoughts and daily activities to managing stress, anxiety, depression, the simplest writing practice can have a major impact in all of our lives. As some YEW alumni will tell you, writing can offer us a light to lead us back from our darkest moments.

This is what we mean by “write more light into your life”—not everyone wants to be an author who shares their work with a public audience, but whether or not you share your work with other people, there is still so much to be gained from even a basic writing practice: to-do lists, personal emails, holiday letters, family histories, thank you letters, keeping a journal.

To ensure our programming continues to reach more people in 2020 and beyond, please consider supporting MWC. All year end gifts of at least $25 receive or renew annual memberships. We are kicking off our year-end giving campaign by participating in #GivingTuesday on December 3 and continuing through the end of the month. There’s several ways to support MWC: we’ve included PayPal links on this page you can use to send a gift online; you can send a gift by mail; or contact us for other ways of giving, sponsoring a program, and/or getting involved with MWC—the gift of time is priceless, and we are always excited to welcome new volunteers.   

If you have any questions about MWC, please call us at 309-732-7330 or email us mwc@midwestwritingcenter.org. 

Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to seeing you in 2020 as we begin our next 40 years!