by Mary-Kate Roan
Staff Writer
The Kesler Mentoring Connection announced Thursday that the organization would be closing its doors.
“We made a difference,” said Deborah Pass Durham, chair of Kesler’s Board of Directors after announcing that the organization would be handing over operations for Duval County to the Children’s Commission.
“Kesler has been the go-to place for people who wanted to help children by mentoring,” said Linda Lanier, CEO of the Jacksonville Children’s Commission. “They have done the thankless work that went on behind the scenes and we appreciate it.”
Lanier added that 10 years ago a family and the Kesler Board of Directors made a promise that the organization made good on.
For Connie Hodges, the president of United Way of Northeast Florida who began her career as a mentor, the announcement was bittersweet.
“It’s bitter because I hate to see such an organization go,” said Hodges. “But it’s sweet because of the great work that they did and the legacy they leave behind.”
Sheriff John Rutherford said he appreciates the work Kesler has done over the years.
“Mentoring makes a difference,” said Rutherford, who won Kesler’s Community Mentor Award in January 2007. “Kesler was the pioneer of bringing mentoring to Jacksonville.”
Rutherford added that mentoring can have a positive impact on the community. He noted that Jacksonville Community Council, Inc. reported that one of the challenges facing Jacksonville is how to raise young boys and girls into nice and respectable men and women. His answer to that question was mentoring.
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