Without the guidance of wiser adults, kids can go astray. The Big Brothers/Big Sisters programs in Iowa are searching for mentors to help keep young people on the right path. Nicole Hinton, spokeswoman for the group’s central Iowa chapter, says they’ve launched a summer program trying to find 100 mentors for 100 kids in 100 days. Hinton says the waiting list for mentors of up to 140 kids is about 85 to 90-percent boys and some have been on the list for up to three years. She says people are always concerned about the time they’d have to commit. Hinton says there are two programs being offered and both involve volunteering a total of four hours a month.Under the community-based program, you’ll spend two hours every other week with the child, picking the child up at their home and taking them out to community-based events, often on free tickets. With school-based mentoring, you spend one hour a week at the child’s school and it runs for nine months out of the year, when school’s in session. Hinton says the mentors make a significant difference in the lives of Iowa’s children. She says children enrolled in Big Brothers Big Sisters Mentoring Programs are more self confident, see improved relationships with peers and family, have an improved academic performance and are better at avoiding delinquency. For more information, surf to the Big Brothers-Big Sisters America website at “www.bbbsa.org.”
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