National Mentoring Month 2005
Sample of Local Partners' Activities

Arizona Mentoring Initiative
The Arizona Mentoring Initiative held a National Mentoring Month celebration on January 7th at the State Capitol. Eric Liu, author of Guiding Lights: The People Who Lead Us to Our Purpose in Life, was the keynote speaker. On February 11th, the Arizona Mentoring Initiative held Mentoring Night with the Phoenix Suns.

Governor's Mentoring Initiative (Arizona)
Governor Janet Napolitano kicked off activities by proclaiming January National Mentoring Month. The following events to recruit and recognize mentors were held in conjunction with the Governor's Mentoring Initiative and the Arizona Mentoring Imitative: Phoenix Suns Mentoring Night, Mentoring Night at Arizona State University's Women's Basketball games (two were held, and Governor Napolitano guest-coached one game), Mentoring Day at the University of Arizona's Men's Basketball Game, National Mentoring Month Celebration featuring author Eric Liu, and a book reading and signing by Eric Liu.

California Governor's Mentoring Partnership
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaimed January as California Mentor Month. The L.A. Mentor Coalition held an awareness event at the House of Blues. The Governor's Mentoring Partnership (GMP) developed a mentor toolkit for use by over 500 local mentor programs to support mentoring efforts throughout California. The GMP also partnered with state and other local agencies to host various mentoring events throughout the month.

Greater Sacramento Mentoring Coalition/CIS Sacramento
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger once again proclaimed January as California Mentor Month via a State Resolution. Copies of the Resolution were sent to all counties and cities with a letter from the Governor's mentoring office urging them to adopt the resolution and providing the links to the TA sites for mentoring. The State Department of General Services held an event recognizing all state employees who mentor, with special recognition given to those who are long-standing mentors of five and ten years. The County Board of Supervisors had a reading of the flex-time policy for county employees and affirmed their commitment to employees becoming mentors.

Channel 10 featured mentors/mentees on their "What's Cool in School" Friday promotions to promote school-based mentoring. Intercom radio aired a Sunday morning show featuring representatives from the Sacramento Mentoring Coalition to discuss what is working in mentoring and lead a call to action.

The Faith Council asked church leaders to pass the collection plate, and asked congregation members to give generously of their time as mentors by filling out postcards pledging to become mentors.

Friends For Youth (California)
Friends for Youth hosted a book-signing event featuring author Eric Liu. National Mentoring Month fliers were sent to Redwood City Chamber of Commerce's 1500 members. NMM promotional materials were also sent to Friends for Youth's top 500 donors and senior friends (mentors) for distribution at their places of work. As a follow-up to NMM, Friends for Youth distributed a mailing to 2,000 Redwood City residents.

Colorado Mentoring
The Governor's Commission on Community Service and the Office of Lieutenant Governor Janet E. Norton sponsored the "2005 National Mentoring Day Celebration: Share What You Know, Mentor a Child" on January 25th at the Lowry Campus in Denver, Colorado. The celebration included welcoming remarks from Lieutenant Governor Norton, a panel that discussed the importance of mentoring in people's lives, and a speech by Father Figures author Kevin Sweeney.

Delaware Mentoring Council
School districts, individual schools, and community sites held a variety of events throughout the state. The Appoquinimink, Indian River, and Seaford school districts held district-wide celebration events which provided a time for the district administrations and mentor coordinators to recognize the achievements of mentoring. Creative Grandparenting held a formal Jazz in January fundraiser. Delaware Youth for Christ held a recognition event as well. Attendance at these events ranged from 30 to 300 people. A poster/essay contest was held throughout the state and the Delaware Mentoring Council received over 80 submissions from mentees and mentors. T-shirts were made with one of the winning designs, and awards were presented to the state winners at a state recognition event on January 26th. Secretary of Education Valerie Woodruff presided over the event, held at the Department of Education building in Dover. Approximately 80 people attended, including the parents and mentors of the winning poster entry students, superintendents, mentor coordinators, state legislators, the state board of education, and the heads of provider organizations, such as Big Brothers Big Sisters of Delaware.

Florida Governor's Mentoring Initiative
Season's Readings! Book Drive with Florida State Agencies was held throughout January. The state agency mentoring initiative allows employees one hour per week to mentor a child. The donated books were distributed to the schools and organizations where the state employees serve as mentors. Governor Jeb Bush recognized a mentor for exemplary service with a Points of Light Award. They implemented nine new regional mentor centers for outreach, recruitment, and coordination in support of the Governor's Mentoring Initiative, including corporate, municipal, faith-based, community-based, and state agency mentoring. They announced the next cycle of applications for the Teen Trendsetters Reading Mentors Program for youth-to-youth mentoring with high school students serving as reading mentors to elementary students.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Miami
CBS affiliate WFOR and WLRN aired PSAs and featured stories about winners of the South Florida Mentor of Excellence award. CBS affiliate WFOR also supported a phone bank. The Miami Herald contributed four pro bono ads for NMM and the Thank Your Mentor Day campaign. They all provided links to www.southfloridamentors.org on their website, as well as continued support of the community event to create awareness about mentoring in Dade and Broward counties.

Kesler Mentoring Connection (Florida)
Kesler Mentoring Connection hosted a "Spirit of Mentoring" celebration featuring Jacksonville Jaguar football team members Donovin Darius and Maurice Williams. Billboards were developed featuring these players and encouraging others to "Catch the Spirit of Mentoring."

Mentor Center of Palm Beach County
ABC affiliate WPBF-TV 25 aired several PSAs, produced news features profiling mentoring pairs and two on-air personalities who are mentors, and taped four-second "Thank Your Mentor" tags featuring local mentees thanking their mentors by name. WPBF-TV 25 also hosted a "Mentoring Night" at their studios, where potential mentors could learn about mentoring and be connected with a local program. WPBF-TV 25 also provided links to mentoring organizations and information about mentoring on their website. Obie Media provided 20 pro bono outdoor ads. Several local businesses posted print materials and wore special "Mentor" T-shirts every Monday in January to help promote "Mentoring Mondays" and National Mentoring Month.

Iowa Mentoring Partnership
Governor Tom Vilsack issued a proclamation once again recognizing January as National Mentoring Month. A legislative breakfast highlighting volunteerism efforts in Iowa was held in early February. Also, various programs throughout the state hosted local events in support of National Mentoring Month.

The Maryland Mentoring Partnership
The Maryland Mentoring Partnership (MMP) kicked off National Mentoring Month with an Open House at their headquarters in Baltimore. For an entire week in January, MMP had a Radio Recruitment Marathon with NPR station WEAA 88.9 FM, housed at Morgan State University. There was also a Legislative Day for Mentoring in the State’s Capital Annapolis, hosted by Senator Lisa Gladden. MMP hosted a "Thank Your Mentor Day" corporate mentoring roundtable with Northrop Grumman following by an evening reception called Mentor’s Night Out at Copra Restaurant. The final event for NMM 2005 was a book signing held at the Enoch Pratt Free Library with Craig Thompson Esquire, author of ABC’s of Black History.

Mass Mentoring Partnership
The Mass Mentoring Partnership organized an event with Governor Mitt Romney. The Partnership also worked with Governor Romney and the Human Resources Division to reinvigorate and announce the current policy allowing state employees 8 hours a month of paid leave to mentor a child. In addition, the Partnership participated in a fundraiser run by Cleveland Indians Manager and former Red Sox player Eric Wedge, featuring a banquet and silent auction tied in with day-long clinics at his indoor baseball facility. The "We're Looking For a Few Good Mentors" cards were displayed as table tents at the banquet.

Mentor Michigan
Governor Jennifer M. Granholm and First Gentleman Daniel G. Mulhern led Mentor Michigan's National Mentoring Month's efforts in 2005. They, along with former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, personally tagged one of the national PSAs and created a Michigan-specific PSA for television and radio. A letter to all media outlets was sent by the Governor and First Gentleman to encourage promotion of National Mentoring Month. First Gentleman Mulhern made at least 10 personal appearances throughout the state. The Michigan Community Service Commissioners (board of directors) supported NMM by writing op-ed articles, promoting mentoring within their businesses, and more. A wide variety of community-based activities was hosted by mentoring programs all across Michigan-including mentor recruitment, mentor recognition, and special activities for mentors and mentees.

Teammates Mentoring Program (Nebraska)
A proclamation declaring January National Mentoring Month in Nebraska was signed by the Governor on January 18th at the State Capitol in Lincoln. Representatives from TeamMates Mentoring Program, BBBS, and the Midwest Mentoring Partnership were present for the signing. A variety of activities took place across the state in celebration of NMM. On Sunday, January 9th, at the Qwest Center in Omaha, 1,200 TeamMates mentors and youth were the guests of the Creighton University Blue Jay basketball team. They were treated to a basketball game, and pizza and autographs after the game.

Congressman Tom Osborne, a major supporter of mentoring and co-founder of the TeamMates mentoring program, highlighted an evening celebrating youth mentoring in North Platte on January 11th. A number of mayors across the state signed proclamations for NMM, and community leaders spoke about mentoring on local radio and television programs. Local mentoring programs hosted events to thank their mentors. 1,000 Thank Your Mentor cards and 3,000 "Share What You Know" cards were distributed to the 70 TeamMates mentoring programs across Nebraska.

Volunteer Center of Bergen County(New Jersey)
The County Executive issued a certificate of commendation to every mentor in the three mentoring programs run by the Volunteer Center. Emails included a signature about NMM, NMM address labels were used on all outgoing mail, certificates were issued to mentors with thank-you quotes gathered from the mentees, and press releases were sent out, focusing on NMM as mentors were recruited for winter training programs.

The Mentoring Partnership of New York
Governor Pataki kicked off January with a proclamation that "January is National Mentoring Month in the Empire State." On January 20th, there was a Mentor Recruitment Happy Hour hosted by MPNY's Young Professional Advisory Board to attract more young professionals to become mentors. On January 25th, MPNY's member mentoring programs, along with other partners and friends, attended the Thank Your Mentor Day "Mentoring Panel" with Eric Liu at Lincoln Center. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg proclaimed January 29th "Mentors' Day in New York City" as more than 650 children and mentors representing 40 different mentoring programs from all five boroughs of New York City celebrated the sixth annual Mentors' Day at the Field House at Chelsea Piers. Due to the increased number of inquiries to MPNY during January, two "Mentoring Information Sessions" for individuals interested in becoming mentors were held at Fordham College's Lincoln Center campus. MPNY also convened their Community-Based Members for an expanded "Networking Meeting" on January 13th and their Faith-Based Members for a "Celebration Dinner" on January 19th.

Mentoring Partnership of Long Island
The Partnership's primary activity was a mini-conference which was co-sponsored with C.W. Post University on January 29th. The conference was multi-tracked with content for mentors, mentees, program coordinators, and other interested parties. In addition, a press release was issued to the local media, a PSA for local radio was produced, and a feature article on the organization was published in the Long Island Business News. The Partnership once again sponsored Teens on the Job, a job shadow program which impacts approximately 500 Long Island businesses and 1,100 10th-graders.

Communities In Schools of North Carolina/North Carolina Mentoring Partnership
President/CEO Linda Harrill participated in a statewide panel on volunteerism that was aired on the statewide public service network. A mentoring PSA was shown at the event, where mentoring and National Mentoring Month were discussed. Linda Harrill also made several presentations to large community gatherings about NMM.

The Mentoring Center of Central Ohio
Mentoring Month in Central Ohio included the official launch of a new Buckeye Mentoring Hub at Ohio State University (a six-way partnership housed on campus already increasing mentoring by 50%), the annual Outstanding Mentor and Mentee Awards ceremony at the Ohio Statehouse, and the largest-yet Mentor/Mentee FunDay (about 350 attendees) at Ohio State's sports complex, now in its fourth year.

Time Warner Cable and ABC-6/Fox 28 aired national PSAs, CBS, and NBC on-air talent served as emcees for events, Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman gave a Citation of Recognition, State Representative Joyce Beatty again presented Outstanding Mentor and Mentee awards, and the Columbus Public Schools helped the Mentoring Center and partner agencies create a mentoring recruitment video. Echoing the title of keynote speaker Eric Liu's book, the Mentoring Center also created a Guiding Light award for a community member who has made a major lifetime contribution to mentoring. This first award was given to Rev. Leon L. Troy, Sr., Pastor Emeritus of the historic Second Baptist Church in Columbus. A beloved pastor for 50 years and contributor to the quality of life, he is also notable as an informal mentor to hundreds of Central Ohioans.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Cleveland
Cleveland celebrated National Mentoring Month with an Advocacy Forum in partnership with Cleveland State University's Maxine Goodman Levine College of Urban Affairs. The forum began with a panel discussion on the National BBBSA Site-Based Mentoring study being conducted with Public/Private Ventures of Philadelphia. The study, now in its second year, is the second independent study done in conjunction with BBBSA and P/PV. Noted author Eric Liu was the luncheon keynote speaker and shared insights gained while researching his book, Guiding Lights. The afternoon was a series of breakout sessions with Youth Opportunities Unlimited, Cleveland State University, United Way Services, The Cleveland Foundation, Center for Community Solutions, The Cleveland Adoption Network, BBBS of Lorain County, and BBBS of Greater Cleveland. Over 50 mentoring agencies were represented at the forum.

Montgomery County Mentoring Collaborative (Ohio)
The Montgomery County Mentoring Collaborative selected six individuals to receive its third annual outstanding mentor award. Awards were presented on Thursday, January 20th during a luncheon. Guest speaker was Eric Liu, author of Guiding Lights. The day was a centerpiece of the local observance of National Mentoring Month's theme, "Who mentored you? Thank them…and pass it on!"

United Way of Lane County (Oregon)
The United Way of Lane County Volunteer Center hosted a "Mentoring Celebration" on Saturday, January 8th, in honor of local youth leaders and youth who are affiliated with a mentoring program. An afternoon of fun was held at the local YMCA with basketball, swimming, arts and crafts, board games, and pizza. In addition, the Center created a "Wall of Fame" where mentors and mentees tell, in their own words, what mentoring has meant to them. Representatives of local media were invited to cover the event. All mentors attending were formally recognized and honored.

In addition to the weekend event, mentoring programs in the area currently in need of mentors were actively promoted. In addition, all families were encouraged to enroll their child into some kind of mentoring program where they may benefit from positive role models.

The Mentoring Partnership of Southwestern Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh hosted the first-ever Mentor Symposium for National Mentoring Month. Author Eric Liu spoke to a crowd of nearly 80 people, offering insight and personal reflection on mentoring. A panel of funders also was part of the symposium, offering valuable information to agencies.

Both the County Controller and the County Council offered proclamations for NMM and numerous media outlets, including two public affairs shows and six radio stations, featured mentoring. Outdoor advertisements were all over Pittsburgh as well, generating a host of calls from interested individuals.

United Way's Campaign For Mentors (Philadelphia)
The Philadelphia 76ers basketball team hosted 150 participants at the Celebration of Mentors, which included a mentor recruitment message on Jumbotron game board. United Way hosted a Martin Luther King Day mentoring publicity event with Big Brothers Big Sisters in Norristown, featuring a "Be my mentor" card signing at King High School in Philadelphia with 1,000 students. In collaboration with Coming Of Age, United Way hosted a book-signing with Eric Liu, author of Guiding Lights. Mentor Essay Awards Reception was hosted by Children's Hospital to celebrate workplace mentoring.

Texas Governor's Mentoring Initiative
Governor Rick Perry issued a proclamation naming January as National Mentoring Month. National Mentoring Month was featured on the website of the OneStar Foundation (www.onestarfoundation.org), where information on national celebrations, links to other relevant websites, and volunteer recruitment/volunteer management tools were available. National Mentoring Month was also promoted in monthly e-bulletins to the Texas Mentoring Network as well as in the newsletter of the Center for Community-Based and Nonprofit Organizations.

The Governor's Mentoring Initiative also promoted the online version of The Mentoring Month Handbook, underwritten last year by the Criminal Justice Division of the Governor's Office and State Farm Insurance. The handbook includes a press release, op-ed article, letter to the editor, advertisement, PSA script, PowerPoint presentation, and other resources that readers can download and modify for use by their own agencies.

San Antonio: Making Mentoring a Partnership
The annual Mentor Recognition Luncheon was held on Wednesday, January 19th. This year, the Zachry Corporation and its employees were honored for their outstanding support of mentoring. The annual luncheon, for approximately 300 people, raised funds to start and maintain mentoring programs. The Partnership also conducted a media blitz and recruitment drive, and posted banners throughout the city. In addition, at least three city transient buses bore the SA:MMAP logo with the words: "Discover the Power of One…Become a Mentor."

Utah Mentoring Partnership
Larry H. Miller, a local businessman, sponsored a fundraising event for the Partnership featuring the movie Coach Carter. In addition to proceeds from the showing of the movie, donations were made by local businesses that learned about the partnership through the Attorney General's office. The governor's wife, Mary Kaye Huntsman, spoke about the importance of mentoring before the movie.

The Partnership also hosted a Legislative Breakfast on Capitol Hill on the first day of the legislative session. In addition, an ad for mentors was placed in the Salt Lake Tribune through a grant from American Express. In-depth articles on mentoring programs were in both of the state-wide newspapers. Bookmarks produced by the Partnership using the "Share What You Know" tagline were distributed throughout the state at various events.

Washington State Mentoring Partnership
The Washington State Mentoring Partnership hosted a kickoff celebration at the State Capitol. The event included Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen, mentor James Waller, and author Eric Liu, as well as local celebrities and representatives of mentoring programs. Over 150 people were in attendance. The Partnership also sponsored a campaign involving billboards, radio, and television.

United Way of King County (Washington)
The United Way of King County, with support from the Washington State Mentoring Partnership (WSMP), the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), and the Seattle Supersonics, hosted the third annual National Mentoring Night with the Sonics on January 23rd. At a special pre-game program, James Donaldson (former Sonics player), Nate McMillan (Head Sonics Coach), and Kate Bryant (General Manager for the Seattle Storm) spoke to the mentors and mentees about how mentoring has helped them achieve their goals in life. Mentors and mentees were able to come to courtside seats and watch players warm up, receive special prizes, and interact with other mentors and mentees. With special support from WSMP and DSHS, the Sonics game tickets were offered for $5 to the first 400 tickets sold (compared to the regular price of $24). These tickets were being exclusively offered to mentoring programs in King County and Washington State. Additional tickets after the initial 400 were sold at $14. With help from the Sonics, the United Way was also able to secure Squatch and Little Squatch (Sonics Mascots) to do a PSA and be the "mascot" for the event. The Outstanding Mentor of the Year Award for 2005, now in its fourth year, was presented at the Sonics game. The winning mentor won a $250 Costco card and the winning mentor's agency received $500. Again, this was made possible with support from WSMP and DSHS.

An article on mentoring appeared in a local magazine, Colors, Northwest (a magazine dedicated to looking at diversity issues in the region), with the hope to increase the number of diverse mentors. In addition, the City of Seattle and surrounding cities were asked to proclaim January as National Mentoring Month.

Clark County Mentoring Round Table (Washington)
On January 6th, the Clark County Mentoring Round Table (CCMRT) hosted a reception for Eric Liu, prior to his book reading/signing at Jantzen Beach Barnes and Noble. Mentors, mentees, program staff and other community members were invited to attend. From January 10 to the 25th, the CCMRT photo exhibit entitled "Moments that Change Lives" hung in the Clark County Public Service Center. On January 25th, Thank Your Mentor Day, a tabling event was held, bringing out a variety of mentoring programs to meet the public. The CCMRT VISTA volunteer arranged for videotaping of interviews with mentors, mentees, and program staff; the results were aired daily through January on local cable channel 28. Press kits about National Mentoring Month and the CCMRT were developed and distributed to local media and neighborhood association newsletters. Promotional materials were developed and collected for distribution to all mentoring programs to use over the course of NMM and throughout the year; new local materials included a window decal with CCMRT's website and pencils.