January is National Mentoring Month, and this year COACH Kids, the Clinton County Boys & Girls Club and The Clinton County YMCA are celebrating the annual campaign aimed at expanding quality mentoring opportunities to connect more of our community’s young people with caring adults by hosting a Mentor Fair and welcoming a proclamation by Frankfort’s Mayor, Chris McBarnes
“Clinton County has a proven history to making mentoring a priority, both through the schools and the youth-serving organizations at work and play. We’re thrilled to host a community-wide celebration and search for committed individuals who want to make a life-long difference in the lives of our youth.” Susan Grasham, COACH Kids Executive Director.
Research shows that mentors play a powerful role in providing young people with the tools to strive and thrive, to attend and engage in school, and to reduce or avoid risky behavior like drug use. In turn, these young people are:
– 55% more likely to be enrolled in college
– 81% more likely to report participating regularly in sports or extracurricular activities
– 78% more likely to volunteer regularly in their communities.
– More than twice as likely to say they held a leadership position in a club or sports team.
Yet, the same research shows that one in three young people in our country will grow up without a mentor. Today, in our community there are untold numbers young people who could benefit from having a mentor outside their family. COACH Kids has many kids who are unmatched, and willing to have a mentor.
At the same time, research shows that 44% of adults are not yet mentoring but are willing to consider it and mentoring is poised for growth.18- to 29-year-olds are more than twice as likely to cite having had a mentor in their childhood than those over 50. Almost half of today’s young adults report having a mentor in their youth and those rates appear to have been rising steadily over the past several decades.
National Mentoring Month is the time of year where engagement from community members interested in becoming a mentor is highest. With the support of the mentoring community, we are encouraging the public to go beyond just digital engagement – and become involved in real life.
In our community, people can participate in events:
Mentor Fair & Proclamation on Friday, January 17 4-5:30 p.m., we will celebrate and have an opportunity for folks interested in donating a little to receive a lot from youth mentoring. There will be tables set up in the main corridor of Old Stoney with a no-pressure setting to ask questions and find out what’s happening with mentoring in our communities to support our youth. Angry Donkey is providing their world-famous bread pudding as a special treat for those who stop by to visit.
National Mentoring Month is led by MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership, the national organization working to expand the quality and quantity of youth mentoring relationships nationwide. Each year since its launch in 2002, National Mentoring Month has enjoyed the strong support of the President and the United States Congress.