OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Fostering positive relationships through meaningful connections. The nonprofit MENTOR Nebraska is launching a campaign to help recruit more mentors for kids in need.
- Research from MENTOR Nebraska shows that mentors have a positive impact on young people in personal, academic and professional situations.
- We talk to mentor match, Michael Rodriquez and Ian Simpkins about the impact mentoring has had on them.
- "When I speak to his mom and stuff, she really wanted a positive role model in his life so I wanted to be there as someone that he could talk to do whatever he wanted with and just kind of be a sounding board for him so,”
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Growing up, many of us had someone to look up to. To continue connecting kids with role models like we had, the nonprofit MENTOR Nebraska is leading a statewide initiative to ensure every kid has a supportive mentor in their lives.
10-year-old Michael Rodriquez and his mentor Ian Simpkins have been meeting as a mentoring match for a little over a year now.
"I like that he's like creative and good at soccer and like he's very good at like... a very good mentor like a friend,” said Rodriquez.
"He's not afraid to tell me what he wants to do. He's not afraid to take the initiative and go do it,” said Simpkins.
This month, MENTOR Nebraska is launching a campaign to help recruit more mentors like Simpkins for kids in need. They’re also providing grants for partner programs like Kids Can to expand their reach.
"We know from research that there's one in three young people that are growing up without a mentor in their life and we want to do something about that,” said Melissa Mayo, executive director of MENTOR Nebraska.
Research from MENTOR Nebraska shows that mentors have such a positive impact on young people in personal, academic and professional situations.
"He gives me like math problems if there's like something to do with math or something and he teaches me more soccer skills,” said Rodriquez.
Because of positive relationships like Rodriquez and Simpkins, 52% of kids with a mentor are less likely to skip a day of school, 55% are more likely to be enrolled in college and 81% are more likely to participate in sports or extracurricular activities.
"When I speak to his mom and stuff, she really wanted a positive role model in his life so I wanted to be there as someone that he could talk to do whatever he wanted with and just kind of be a sounding board for him so,” said Simpkins.
If you want to become a mentor or know someone, who does you can visit MENTOR Nebraska’s webpage here.
