January 2010 marks the ninth year for National Mentoring Month (NMM) which was created by the Harvard School of Public Health and MENTOR. By focusing national attention on the need for mentors, as well as how individuals, businesses, government agencies, schools, faith communities and nonprofits work together to increase the number of mentors, it helps assure brighter futures for young people.
Locally, the Big Brothers Big Sisters program is using National Mentoring Month to help create awareness of how mentoring can effect young people’s lives.
“We are recruiting and trying to raise the awareness about BBBS in Brown County year round, but National Mentoring Month is a special chance to reflect on the impact and importance of mentoring in the life of a child. The statistics are there; mentoring changes lives,” said Shane Blackshear of Big Brothers Big Sisters in Brown County.
Blackshear said that the average wait time for a boy to find a mentor in Brown County is 111 days. This just stresses the importance of needing volunteers to mentor kids now.
NMM celebrates mentoring and the positive effect it can have on young lives. Its goals are to:
- Raise awareness of mentoring in its various forms.
- Recruit individuals to mentor, especially in programs that have waiting lists of young people.
- Promote the rapid growth of mentoring by recruiting organizations to engage their constituents in mentoring.
Each year since its launch in 2002, NMM has enjoyed the strong support of the U.S. President and Congress. Additional prominent individuals who have participated in the campaign include: Maya Angelou, former President Bill Clinton, Clint Eastwood, Senator John McCain, Quincy Jones, General Colin L. Powell, Cal Ripken, Jr., Bill Russell and Usher.
For more information about Big Brothers Big Sisters in Brown County, contact their office at 325-643-5600, or email sblackshear@bbbstx.org.
