by Mary-Kate Roan
Staff Writer
When the United Way decided to hold a “Day of Action” in an attempt to recruit Jacksonville-area mentors, the goal was to sign up 1,000 new adults interested in helping kids.
That goal has been met and then some, prompting the organization to extend its deadline to register as a mentor to Aug. 15.
The Day of Action was sponsored nationally by United Way, with each separate branch of the company focusing on issues that had an impact on the communities in which they serve. The Jacksonville branch of United Way chose to focus their Day of Action efforts on the Jacksonville Children’s Commission program for volunteer mentors.
“The mayor was focused on it, and the superintendents were focused on it,” said Connie Hodges, president of United Way of Northeast Florida. “Therefore, we decided to focus on the mentor program for our local Day of Action campaign.”
The mentors come in all shapes, sizes and backgrounds, but they each have the same ability to reach out to a young student. Mentors donate a minimum of one hour per week of their time to volunteer at local schools, helping students from elementary to high school in Duval, Nassau and Clay county schools.
“A mentor is a friend to the child,” said Linda Lanier, CEO of the Children’s Commission. “They are concerned about the success of the child.”
Mentors are not teachers, but they serve as a major source of help for the students. In a 2007 study conducted by Johns Hopkins University researchers, 51.1 percent of public schools in Florida were deemed “dropout factories,” which means that less than 60 percent of freshman students finish their senior year.
“A child that is mentored is less likely to do drugs, abuse alcohol and/or drop out of school,” said Hodges. “We utilized the relationships with businesses to appoint mentor champions to train and recruit mentors.” Together with 35 companies and local government agencies, the Day of Action campaign has produced over 1,000 volunteers to become mentors. The largest portions of mentor volunteers have been recruited from local businesses like Publix as well as the City of Jacksonville and community volunteers. Combined, the three have come up with over 440 mentors on their own. Acting as partners, the United Way and the Children’s Commission have recruited many more mentors for the program.
“(The Children’s Commission) was very instrumental in coordinating training sessions and background checks for us,” said Janet Owens, the vice president of marketing and communications at United Way of Northeast Florida. The popularity of the event has extended the original deadline of June 21.
“Before the Day of Action, there were about 3,000 mentors,” said Lanier. “There are around 45,000 children that need mentors.”
The graduation rate for the 2007-08 school year rose to 64.3 percent. Duval County’s public schools are the second largest employer in Jacksonville, and the county was one of two communities in the nation to be selected for the Pew Partnerships’ Learning to Finish dropout program.
“We are extending the deadline in order to go far beyond our original expectation of 1,000 mentors,” said Owens.
For more information on the volunteer mentor program and the Day of Action, contact Coretta Hill at 390-3231.
What it takes to be a mentor
by Mary-Kate Roan, Staff Writer
So you want to be a mentor?
Good, here’s what you’ll need to do.
Register online through the United Way’s Web site at www.aboutunitedway.org/mentor or through a local business. Please note that only those that are 18 years of age and older may become mentors. In the registration process, select a time and date to attend training. Also, indicate any schools that are preferred.
Once this is complete, prospective mentors will be assigned to a mentoring agency at one of the preferred schools. An interview will also take place before training begins.
Training includes orientation, a one-hour basic mentor training session and fingerprinting that is part of a mandatory background check.
After the mentor agency receives the background check results, communication between the mentor and the agency will begin.
At the beginning of the school year, the mentor will be matched with a student.
356-2466