Spotlight Friendships

Lu and Devin have enjoyed a variety of activities during their year together. They’ve had a terrific time getting to know each other through the many fun activities in which they’ve participated. They attended Friends for Youth sponsored activities such as the Automotive Shop Tour. They also used free tickets to go see the circus. Lu and Devin found the Life Skill Workshops to be helpful and attended two of them: Know Your Rights on police encounters and the Anti-bullying workshop. Being that they both live near the coast, they spent much of their time out in the salty sea air hiking or exploring the local piers. They have built a wonderful and unique Friendship that neither of them is ready to part with. They will continue being friends and hanging out regularly!

Anna and Ashley were matched last December. Both agree that being a Senior and a Junior Friend was a different experience than what they expected because it was much better than what they expected! Anna and Ashley really like hanging out and spending time together. They have shared many laughs together and will continue to in the future. Anna and Ashley attended many Friends for Youth activities including the Tile Making activity, which was their first activity together and occurred only a few weeks after they were matched. They also attended the Jump Sky High activity and liked it so much that they later attended one of the center’s classes on their own. Anna and Ashley also received free tickets to different performances and attractions, including Stars on Ice and Alcatraz. Anna mentioned at their One Year Friendship Anniversary meeting, “My favorite activity was… there were a lot of good activities so it’s really hard to choose,” and Ashley completely agreed!

Celebrate National Mentoring Month through Social Media

From the organizations supporting National Mentoring Month - Harvard School of Public Health, MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership, and the Corporation for National and Community Service - this January's campaign will feature a new social media strategy designed to focus national attention on the need for mentors. The campaign is set up as a Facebook event called "I Am A MENTOR" for January 11 and will be concentrated on a one-day call to action for mentors to post their stories and invite others in their network to join.

Check out and join the event here.

Join with youth mentors and mentoring programs around the country January 11, 2012, and help inspire others to learn about mentoring and how they can make a difference in the life of a child. Ways to help support this campaign:

• Share this event page with other mentors, mentoring programs, and supporters of mentoring.
• In January, change your profile picture to the “I Believe in Mentoring” badge (a link to access the badge will be provided soon).
• On January 11, post your experience about being a mentor. Here is some sample messaging you can use: Did you know I am a mentor with [program]? Being a mentor to [first name of child] is rewarding and has helped me to [have fun, make a difference, learn new things, be a better parent, gain a better understanding of other cultures, etc.]. You can make a difference in as little as an hour a week. Find a mentoring opportunity in your local community today at www.serve.gov/mentor
• Be sure to tag your program in your posts so people can learn more about the program where you mentor.
• Feel free to post comments and suggestions on this page so other mentors can learn how you are promoting mentoring during National Mentoring Month.

For more ideas on how to use social media strategies to promote National Mentoring Month, be sure to check out our latest webinar, Social Media + National Mentoring Month = Opportunity. There, you'll find 12 Tips for 2012 to use in January and throughout the year to recruit more mentors, find more funding, and engage with your community about the importance of mentoring!

And be sure to register for our two new webinars coming up in January: Learning from Mistakes: Strengthening Youth Safety with Research-Based Screening Practices and Cropping the Big Picture - Determining What the New Meta-Analysis Means for Your Mentoring Program.

Announcing Our New Facebook Causes Campaign!

As part of our Annual Campaign, for a short time you and your Facebook friends can donate through our Friendship Facebook Cause. We are hoping to make many more matches like yours, and we can do this if everyone chips in a little bit.

You can help us in three ways:

• DONATE
• "LIKE" our Cause or add a comment to help us create visibility
• Tell a Friend! Click "Share" and tell your Friends about donating to our Cause. All donors will be able to see exactly what their money is going towards!
  

Thank you so much for your support,

Friends for Youth

Introducing Our New Intern!

Hi, my name is Jenna, and I’m a high school student. My favorite classes are English and History. School is very important to me and I spend almost all of time during the week at school and doing my homework. I hope to attend a UC in Southern California for all 4 years of college, although I am not yet sure of what I would like to major in.


I have played many sports, including track, swimming, basketball, and soccer. My favorite sport has always been soccer and I have played for 11 years. My worst habit is procrastinating. During my free time on the weekends, I usually spend most of the time with my friends and some time with my family. I like to watch movies, go shopping, and go to San Francisco. I love spending holidays with my family. I also like to watch TV and movies; my favorite show is Desperate Housewives and my favorite movie is Pirates of the Caribbean. I listen to most types of music except for rock and metal and I like to sing and dance but I’m not very good at either.