January is National Mentoring Month!

January is National Mentoring Month and at the Boys & Girls Club, our volunteers have a huge impact on our youth. Whether it’s assisting with homework, or playing mat ball, our mentors are role models for our members.

Our volunteers assist and interact with our members every day in daily activities. It could be in our one-on-one mentoring program, or even just participating in a small group program like Reading Club or STEM. In 2018, the 1st-5th Club had 21 mentees and 11 mentors participate. Through these interactions, our mentors develop important, supportive relationships. This gives our members the opportunity to learn how to thrive with a caring role model in their lives.

One of our current mentors, Kayla Wede, shared how this program has positively impacted her 4th grade mentee. Before mentoring, he used to struggle at the Club because he would often become angry and defiant towards staff. He felt that rules did not apply to him. Instead of communicating with staff, he would just make noises. Now in his second year of the program, he has learned how to communicate without getting angry and looks staff in the eye. He has also made friends and has become a better friend for others. He now understands why there are rules and has made improvements in following them.

“I think the biggest thing with this program is that we are meeting with the kids who really do need us most, many of them are needing a mentor because they may not have that adult figure in their life that they can talk to, or those who just need a little extra 1 on 1 attention from an adult,” says Kayla.

Benefits for Mentors:

-Increased patience and improved supervisory skills

-Sense of accomplishment

-Increased self-esteem

Benefits for Mentees:

-Increased high school graduation rates

-Improved home and school behaviors

-Decreased likelihood of initiating drug and alcohol use

Interested in helping build Great Futures? Download our volunteer application at https://www.greatfuturessd.org/volunteer-opportunities and #BeAClubMentorForLife.

Reference: https://youth.gov/youth-topics/mentoring/benefits-mentoring-young-people