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National Mentoring Month: Share What you know. Become a Mentor.

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 firstever NMM was held 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 24, 2008 will mark the fifth 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—e-mentoring, group, or one-to-one—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 2008 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, senior vice president, National Mentoring Institute.

State Activities Planned for NMM 2008

Stay up-to-date on mentoring activities in your state during National Mentoring Month. State Mentoring Partnerships use the month of January to focus national attention on youth mentoring—how it benefits young people, adults, and society as a whole. Updates will be posted throughout January 2008.