MENTORING MONDAY: Mentoring programs change lives

Mentoring Monday is a time when volunteers can connect with children to help make a difference in their lives.

Jeanette Simon, director of volunteer and mentoring service at Concerned Black Men, is doing her part to make sure that connection is made possible.

HOPE FOR MENTORING MONDAY

"I hope two things happen," Simon said Monday morning. "I hope people that people will become aware of mentoring and how important it is and all the different opportunities that are out there - and that we have hundreds and hundreds of people who say -I want to step up to the plate; I want to make a difference in a child's life; I want to mentor."

HOW MUCH TIME DOES IT TAKE

Eight hours a month is all it takes, says Simon. And don't think of it as something that interferes with your life - think of it as something that enriches it.

"Young people just looking for somebody that cares, somebody that they can talk to, somebody that will give them their ear -- because a lot of times they just don't have that," she said.

"A wise, entrusted friend and guide - that's exactly what a mentor is."

WHO NEEDS A MENTOR & WHAT DO THEY DO

"Girls need mentors just as well as boys. A students, B students -- it really doesn't matter. Everybody needs that extra support and caring," Simon said.

"You can do almost anything. If you go to the mall, you can take your mentee to the mall. I had mentor that was house shopping and took his mentee house shopping and taught him about credit and how to buy a house. You can go out and play ball. You can go to the movies."

SUCCESS

Jeanette Simon said there are a million success stories - one in particular revolved around a young man who came a from a single family household. No one in the family had attended college before and, through the help of his mentor who stayed with him through high school, he is now attending and thriving in a university.

For adults who want to volunteer to be a mentor - and for parents who want their children to connect - you can visit here: http://www.fox5dc.com/good-day/101750153-story