One of our favorite Bushwick people, poet Modesto Flako Jimenez is involved with Still Waters, “a reading and writing sanctuary for kids, a safe space for self-expression in the neighborhood of Bushwick, Brooklyn.” He asked us to spread the word because Still Waters is now looking for kind and patient volunteers to help children ages 6 to 14. You will sit next to a child and encourage her into literacy! How amazing! Flako says that they have about two dozen kids a day that need help. The hours are any portion of 1-5:30, Monday through Thursday, and Saturday. Even two hours a week can change a life for the better.

Flako adds that it’s a great chance to get to know the neighborhood and be an authentic part of it.

Contact Stephen Haff at [email protected], or 646-579-5025, and check out Still Waters website for more info and for endorsements by Peter Carey, Sharon Olds, Colum McCann, Jonathan Safran Foer, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, Patrick McGrath, Richard Price, Deborah Eisenberg, Wallace Shawn and other literary luminaries.

Still Waters are located at The Room, 286 Stanhope St., Ground Floor, between Irving and Wyckoff, Bushwick, Brooklyn.