"Mentors for Kids" program looking for volunteers
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA["Mentors for Kids," a non-profit organization that provides mentoring services for kids ages 5-17 in seven counties across Southern Illinois, currently is looking for adults to be mentors to disadvantaged children.
The program was founded in July 2009 after another local mentoring program closed its doors, and the first mentor-mentee match was made in October 2010.
Prospective mentors go through an application process which includes a background check, personal references, an in-home interview, a driver's license check and fingerprint check. After the screening process, prospective mentors attend two two-hour training sessions where they learn about the program's policies and procedures.
Mentors are then matched with kids in the community who are referred to the program by their school or other adults.
Men are matched with boys, and women are matched with girls.
According to Gloria Tison, who is a member of the governing board of directors for the program, more women have signed up to be mentors than men, meaning there are many boys in the area who need mentors.
"We are always looking for mentors," said board member and mentor Lauren Williams. "We have a lot more kids than mentors and a lot more boys than men."
Williams was matched with her mentee in August 2011 and said they have seen each other almost every week since then.
"This is one of the most rewarding things I've ever done," Williams said.
Williams reiterated that it does not cost anything to mentor a kid. The kids in the program need a positive adult role model in their life, not someone to buy them things. Williams said she takes her mentee with her to do all kinds of things, and shares her interests with the child.
"They need our time," said Williams. "I'm her friend. I'm her buddy. I'm someone she can talk to."
Mentors for Kids asks that mentors commit to spending at least six hours a month with their mentee for at least a year.
The program operates in Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Saline, White and Williamson Counties, and the office is located in Benton. To become a mentor or for more information about the program, Mentors for Kids can be reached at (618) 435-KIDS or at the Internet site www.mentors4kids.org.