About 20 years ago, I was looking for a volunteering opportunity and happened to hear a PSA for Friends for Youth at a Stanford football game. I responded, and began a long and rewarding relationship with this small but mighty organization.
An 18-month Friendship began my Friends for Youth journey, and it was an eventful, challenging, and rewarding ride. I was matched with a boy who was eight going on 28—a hard-shelled little guy who was the “man” of his house, taking care of his partially disabled single mom and his younger half-brother. It took me months to get Scott to open up to me, but thereafter we had lots of good experiences, until he and his family suddenly left the area, never to be heard from again. I took solace in believing that both of us had grown during our time together.
Since then, I have served on the Friends for Youth Board and have made Friends for Youth my top financial support priority every year, also including them in my estate plan.
In a crowded universe of worthwhile causes, Friends for Youth epitomizes to me a local, life-changing organization with a broad reach, sharing its proven expertise to help make successful mentoring a reality all over America and beyond.
First published in the March 2013 Emeritus Friendships Bulletin
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