Mayor Proclaims Month as National Mentoring Month

LOMA LINDA>> On Jan. 24, 2017, Mayor Rhodes Rigsby signed into effect a proclamation to designate January 2017 as National Mentoring Month. The goal is to focus attention on the need for mentors, as well as how the community and organizations can work together to increase the number of mentors to assure brighter futures for the younger generations. The proclamation cites a recent report titled “The Mentoring Effect,” which states young people who were at risk for not completing high school but had a mentor were 55 percent more likely to be enrolled in college than those who did not have a mentor. The report also states that 81 percent were more likely to participate regularly in sport or extracurricular activities and 78 percent more likely to volunteer regularly in their communities. On behalf of the City Council, Rigsby proclaimed the month as National Mentoring Month and encouraged organizations, schools, non-profit organizations, businesses, institutions and citizens to engage in activities and partnerships that support mentoring with program that promote positive outcomes including improved self-esteem, social skills and knowledge of career opportunities. National Mentoring Month serves as a public awareness campaign that is recognized by presidential and congressional proclamation. The campaign is led by MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership in conjunction with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Highland Street Foundation. The mission of MENTOR is to fuel the quantity and quality of mentoring relationships for America’s young people and to close the mentoring gap.