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Mentoring Alliance plans informational meeting

 

Ever think about becoming a mentor? January is National Mentoring Month, and if that’s not enough of a reason to get started, there are 130 local children waiting for a mentor of their own. These are kids who need and want a mentor, someone to help them in school and in life. They are children with unrealized potential, who could really benefit if someone was there to open the doors to new experiences and challenging opportunities.

  The Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance is hosting a “no pressure” information session and cocktail hour on Wednesday, Jan. 30, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at MacArthur Place for new potential mentors. It will be a chance to ask questions and hear from mentors and mentees about their experiences.

  For those who travel regularly, the mentoring alliance now offers group mentoring for adults who would like to work together. Careful attention is paid up front to assure that the best matches are made, so that the hour a week a mentor and mentee spend together is fun and rewarding.

  The alliance has Mentor Centers at eight public school campuses, overseen by their staff, and complete with all sorts of tools to help build a lasting friendship with a child – board games, computers, art projects, puzzles, sports equipment, rocket-building kits, game tables and more.

  On-going training and support is provided, as well as an array of field trips, social events and extra-curricular activities that help to foster relationships. There is no cost to become a mentor.

  The Mentoring Alliance recently celebrated 16 years of mentoring kids, and presently, there are more than 450 kids who have a mentor in their life through the program, but many more are

waiting.

For more information, call the Mentoring Alliance at 938-1990, or visit sonomamentoring.org.