Mentoring Stories
- Lynn and Monica -- Grande Island, NE - Lynn and Monica entered the TeamMates mentoring program in 1999. They were already meeting regularly to read together at Walnut Middle School. "When Lynn and I became involved with TeamMates, I thought of it as a good opportunity to reach my dream to go to college," Monica said." Read More...
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National Mentoring Month: Expand Your Universe. Mentor A Child
National Mentoring Month (NMM) highlights mentoring and the positive impact it can have on young lives. Spearheaded by the Harvard Mentoring Project, MENTOR, and the Corporation for National and Community Service, the first NMM was January 2002. This month-long outreach campaign focuses national attention on the need for mentors, as well as how each of us—individuals, businesses, government agencies, schools, faith communities and nonprofits—can work together to increase the number of mentors and assure brighter futures for our young people.
"Thank Your Mentor Day™" – January 21, 2010 marks the sixth annual "Thank Your Mentor Day™," which many mentoring programs select as a day of volunteer recognition. An outreach of the Harvard Mentoring Project, the messages of this special day are:
• Too many young people do not have a caring adult mentor to provide encouragement and support;
• Mentoring programs can provide the link to this support; but
• Programs need volunteers to close the gap.
How Your Interest Creates Positive Change
We encourage you to think of the mentors in your life—a team coach, teacher, concerned neighbor or another caring adult—and take a few minutes to thank them and then consider becoming a mentor yourself. With MENTOR's ZIP code search tool, you can find profiles of local mentoring programs—one-to-one, group or e-mentoring—and choose the program that works best for you.
Being a Corporate Leader in Your Community
Organizations, too, can have a tremendous impact on young lives by sponsoring mentoring programs. For instance, your employer can partner with a local school and recruit employees to mentor students. A workplace-based mentoring program not only benefits the kids, but your co-workers as well. As James S. Turley, chairman of Ernst & Young LLP, says, "If other companies are considering starting mentoring programs, I would simply say, 'Just do it.' The benefit to the community is great, and very importantly, the benefit to your own people is just as great." Workplace-mentoring programs create employee loyalty, increase productivity, and build stronger ties between your organization and the community where you work.
Your organization can also support mentoring throughout 2010 by:
- Donating in-kind gifts (use of space for events, office equipment, highlighting mentoring in employee newsletters);
- Using the double omega icon (the universal symbol for mentoring) in your corporate communications and on your Web site;
- Sponsoring a mentoring event; or
- Providing key leadership for local mentoring programs.
For more information about how your organization can make a positive impact in the lives of young people, contact Tonya Wiley, Chief Administrative Officer, National Mentoring Institute.
National Mentoring Month Partners
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