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United Way Celebrates National Mentoring Month In January and Urges Area Adults To Become Mentors

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(Philadelphia, PA) United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania is calling on adults throughout the region to make a difference in the lives of young people by becoming mentors during National Mentoring Month. Now in its sixth year, National Mentoring Month is intended to raise awareness of the power of mentoring, recruit mentors, enlist businesses and other organizations in promoting mentoring to their members, and honor mentors for their impact in the community. This year, musician Quincy Jones will be named the first National Mentor of the Year.

Since 1990, United Way’s Campaign for Mentors has worked year-round to provide access to a mentor for every young person in the Philadelphia region who needs one. With well over 100,000 school-age children in the region facing problems such as poverty, teen pregnancy, and violence, positive adult role models are more important than ever. Through its Campaign for Mentors, United Way funds mentoring programs that serve nearly 5,000 youth each year, advises more than 85 additional programs, and trains hundreds of mentors and program leaders.

“Mentored youth are more likely to have positive attitudes about school, more likely to attend and less likely to have behavior problems,” said Alba Martinez, President and CEO of United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania. “This is essential, because success in school is a key to success in life.”

As a part of National Mentoring Month, United Way will be holding the following special events:

• January 12th – Mentoring Night with the Philadelphia 76ers: Hosted by the Sixers and the Wachovia Center, 75 mentors and kids will enjoy the Sixers- Bucks game in a luxury box.
• January 24th – Shadowing Day: Philadelphia area businesses and organizations will welcome ninth grade students from the School District of Philadelphia into their workplaces to give them firsthand exposure to the everyday working world. Shadowing is an experience during which students are paired with employee hosts for a day to gain a better understanding about their particular careers. Nearly 1,500 students and 170 businesses and organizations will participate in this exciting educational opportunity.

On January 8th, United Way’s Campaign for Mentors, the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, the Philadelphia School District’s Secondary Education Movement and the Philadelphia Youth Network, Inc. kicked off their Business Mentoring Youth program. In Business Mentoring Youth, an initiative of WorkReady Philadelphia, area business people are paired with 10th graders to help the students set and achieve educational and other goals that will promote their future success. Fifty businesses have already committed to the program.

The Campaign for Mentors also recently launched an initiative to narrow the “mentoring gap” among African-American males. Through a competitive process closing on January 19th, United Way will award $75,000 in grants to community organizations for innovative projects that address the shortage of mentors for young African-American males in the region by increasing the number of African-American men serving as mentors. Details are available at www.uwsepa.org.

United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania
Founded in 1921 by the business community, United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania improves people’s lives by mobilizing the caring power of donors, volunteers and communities. United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania is one of the region’s largest non-profit organizations and one of approximately 1,400 affiliated United Ways nationwide. Each United Way is independent, separately incorporated, and governed by local volunteers.

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