Tips for Taking Part in National Mentoring Month this January

Do you have someone who changed your life? Someone who was there for you when no one else was? A person who sparked your imagination? If so you had a mentor. There are many people who change the lives of children and adults on a daily basis. January is National Mentoring Month. For those who are veterans and those who want to start mentoring, here is a guide for getting into it.

Organizations to try: YMCA or YWCA, the YWCA has a program talked "Walk & Talk One-on-One Mentoring Program", this program is for girls between 12-17 matched with an adult female mentor were they walk and talk, this program last for 9 months, "After School/Summer Day Camp Tutor", it does not have to have the word "mentor" in the title in order for you to be one. You can tutor kid(s) and at the same time teach them life skills. YMCA has a "Youth and Teen Programs" and they may have a mentoring program.

Big Brother Big Sister, to participate in this program you must provide two references, participate in an in-person interview,and go through a background check. This organization has two mentoring programs, Community-based Mentoring and School-based Mentoring. Community-based is when the mentor meet in the child's community and enjoy activities. School-based is when the mentor meet the child at school, library, or community center.

If being apart of a big organization is not for you, you can start on a smaller level.

Churches: There will always be children in need of a mentor or an adult figure at the church. Some may be in need of a substitute grandparent.

Family: You can mentor your nieces and nephews, younger cousin(s) who possibly have a lack parental guidance. Who says that the child you mentor has to be a unrelated.

Mentoring can be very rewarding and a great way to give back to the community. January is National Mentoring Month but why not mentor every month. Giving one hour and week or one day a week is not much time to give. I never actually had a mentor myself but does not mean I can not be one or promote the cause. Mentoring a child exposes kid(s) to a world they otherwise would not have known. This opens up a world of opportunities for the child that would benefit them later on in life. While mentoring you could also learn a lot about yourself in the process. If mentoring is not for you then volunteer with service organization.

Sources:
http://www.ywcatriangle.org/volunteerinfo
http://www.ymcatriangle.org/Helping_Others/Volunteering.
http://www.bbbs.org/site/c.diJKKYPLJvH/b.2286705/k.89B2/Be_a_Big_Sister.htm