We are excited to have Kari Sowers, co-founder of The Mentoring Project, join us today on the blog to share about the heart behind their organization and about ways you can get involved in their amazing work this Father’s Day.
_____
The Mentoring Project (TMProject) exists to rewrite the fatherless story through mentoring. We recruit, train, equip and encourage mentors to show up for at-risk and fatherless kids. We watch tiny (and massive) miracles happen day after day, much like the story captured here.
Although a mentor can never replace a father, he can be a champion of a child in a way that allows a precious young soul to spread its wings. Maybe the idea is best explained in this little video about elephants and mentors.
One of our favorite aspects of our program is our “Mentor Moments.” TMProject mentors receive exclusive invitations to TMProject Mentor Moment events that are sponsored by The Mentoring Project or TMProject’s affiliates. For example, last year, TMProject Mentor Collective members in multiple cities were invited to go back stage at Carrie Underwood concerts and to meet the band before enjoying a VIP concert package, hosted by Carrie’s guitarist Ed Eason. In the past, two National Mentor Collective members were flown to the White House to meet the President and First Lady, complements of The Mentoring Project. Sometimes Mentor Moments are wild adventures, like digging for dinosaur bones, and sometimes they are simple pleasures like pizza and ice cream.
A few days ago, The Mentoring Project received the following note from a single mom after her boys joined us for one of our Oklahoma City Mentor Moments:
Thank you for including Zeke and Justin in yesterday’s Mentor Moment. As a mom you can relate to my the heart’s desire for my children to have what they need to grow, be healthy and become everything God has created them to be. Watching Zeke and Justin grow up without being able to fulfill their legitimate need of their father/son relationship is like watching them suffer from emotional starvation that no amount of my love can ease. After yesterday, what I noticed is how very little it takes to sooth that desperate need. The Mentoring Project mentors made my boys feel like one of the guys. The simple hi-fives and the “guy comradery” goes a LONG way. Justin walked a little taller and Zeke was “open” and happy the rest of the day. I was convinced before, but my belief in what The Mentoring Project is doing is more solid than ever. I will support The Mentoring Project in any way I can for as long as you let me!
We believe that the positive voice of a mentor comes alongside a diligent mother and helps her build more confidence, practical life skills, long term perspective and fun into her son’s weekly routine. We could write hundreds, if not thousands, of stories about mentors who have made a profound positive impact on their lives of their mentees. If you take some time reading our e-newsletters, tweets, instagram and facebook posts, you will get a small sample of the miracles we watch unfold each day. Maybe you would enjoy watching a few mentor spotlight videos like the ones available here, here and here. We hope you will join us in rewriting the fatherless story through mentoring.
This Father’s Day, we are asking those who have a great dad or mentor to honor him in a new way. Help The Mentoring Project expand our capacity to recruit, train, equip and encourage mentors to show up in the life of an at-risk or fatherless child. Watch our video at www.dontbuythetie.com, give a gift to honor your dad or mentor and then tweet, post, blog, sing or face-paint #dontbuythetie!
_
Pure Charity along with Raising Boys Media is rallying around The Mentoring Project’s “Don’t Buy the Tie” campaign in order to raise awareness of the power of mentoring this Father’s Day & funds to support their amazing on-going work. You can give through the widget below OR click through to find out more.
Recent Comments