Mentors are given the opportunity to engage in the life of a young person. Their activities can be very different each time the pair meets together, but the interaction is the same. Mentors are provided with an idea-sheet of places to travel with their mentee during school breaks. Two cabinets are full of games and puzzle to indulge the playful spirit while they meet on-site. These games aren’t what make the mentoring program so great though.


Recently one mentor traveled to Grant Park, in the city, to fly kites with his mentee. The two had a great time as his wife watched them run around. As all kite flying adventures go, the day ended with the wind tangling the kite in a tree. The adventure concluded, and memories were formed. At the end of the day, the mentee wasn’t upset about the kite, but excited just to have a chance to fly one. The day wasn’t about the kite; it was about the mentoring friendship. Flying the kite was simply a vessel by which the mentor shared an experience and provided encouragement to his mentee.


The annual Mentor & Mentee Appreciation Dinner occurred recently, serving over 150 people. The meal, decorations, awards, and raffle prizes were a real treat. There was no entry fee, simply a gift from the mentoring program to its participants. Mentors left work early and called in their family to join in this celebration. Food did not bring everyone together, a real, lasting relationship did. The relationship built between mentees and mentors is real and powerful.


The mentoring program is changing lives but not with games or fancy field trips. It is changing lives with ordinary people performing extraordinary acts of love.

-- Posted by Eric Hawley of Concordia University

5th Annual Mentor & Mentee Appreciation Dinner

Last week, we hosted our annual event which publicly recognizes each of our mentors and mentees for their involvement in Mentoring. This year, our Mentor & Mentee Appreciation Dinner celebrated the program milestone of having 50 young people matched with volunteer mentors.

Needless to say, our attendance at this year's Dinner was higher than ever! The event provided an opportunity for mentors' and mentees' families to interact over a shared meal, and afterward, each of our 51 mentoring matches were recognized via video segments and presentation of certificates.

Regarding the evening, one mentor commented, "I thought this level of recognition and encouragement was above and beyond. Thank you so much!"

Check our some photos from the evening below, and you can see them all at our facebook page:

Searching

Have you ever intensely searched? Have you ever really searched for something of true and valuable meaning knowing that when you finally discover it, you will reach a level of fulfillment? Meet Ruby, a mentor who has been searching for a couple years trying to find a program that she and her husband could be involved together. They were looking for a program with specific goals: faith based, efficient, desired results, and long-term. They had been introduced to other mentoring organizations, but nothing that they felt would bring real impact and change.

Dan met Ruby at one of his church visits trying to find interested adults who want to make a difference by sharing their lives with young people from the community. Ruby and her husband had finally found what they had been searching for. They had talked with Dan about the program and were excited to understand it is rooted in God. After going through the mentor screening and training process, they were ready.

It’s been 4 months since Ruby started working with her mentee. As we were talking she started explaining the uncanny similarities between the two of them. Ruby relates with her mentee’s behavior so well. They’re both talkative, outgoing, believe in God, and the list continued as she happily told me the characteristics they shared. Ruby relates to her mentee through similar experiences through life. As the conversation can range from boys, to homework, Ruby lets her know she’s not alone. Her career as a Job Coach has found its way into their conversations. Ruby lets her mentee know that she is in charge of her life: “Dreams can be achieved if you’re willing to work for them.”

Ruby had a passion and desire to search for a mentoring opportunity because she understood the power of influence in kid’s lives. Ruby is not the only one. Many of our mentors were searching for the same opportunity. The opportunity to enter into the life of another human being and create a difference, the opportunity to be vulnerable and share good and hard times together, the opportunity to share the message of hope through the gospel, and finally the opportunity to share real love.

Ruby’s search led her here to be a mentor. The search for intentional, lasting commitment, rooted in the Lord.

What is it that you are searching for?

-- Post by Eric Hawley, Circle Urban intern