 Mentors: Marissa Wilkens (Community Friends), Louise Dawson (Foster Grandparents), Patti Meyer (United Way), Donald Roberts (RSVP), Benji Thurber (future mentor), Adam Borge (Spectrum), Debbie Donnelly (Connecting Youth), Bethany Halliday (Linking Learning to Life), Andrea Torello (King Street), Dan Smith (Everybody Wins!) Also: Coach Tom Brennan (center) & Tracy M. Treadwell (Mobius)  Mentors join Exective Director, Andrea Torello on Live at 5:25 to discuss local programs & National Mentoring Month. (Click to watch.) Coach Tom Brennan, former head coach of the UVM basketball team and current Vermont radio personality, signed on as the spokesman for our NMM celebration and volunteer recruitment drive. Brennan worked with Mobius and our sixteen affiliated mentoring programs in Chittenden County to help recruit new mentors.
 Our friends at UNO Chicago Grill and Bruegger's Bagels donated portions of their proceeds on specific days in January to support mentoring |
January 2010 was the 9th annual celebration for National Mentoring Month (NMM). Each year Mobius partners with MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership, the Harvard School for Public Health and the Corporation for National and Community Service to best utilize NMM to increase public awareness and to recruit mentors. The theme of this year’s campaign was, “Expand Your Universe: Mentor a Child.”
We began our campaign in late December with a television interview on Live at 5:25; a Channel 17/Town Meeting Television and CCTV Center for Media & Democracy discussion show. Mentors Patrick LeDuc (VSAC Gear Up Mentoring) and Marissa Wilkens (HowardCenter’s Community Friends Mentoring) joined Executive Director, Andrea Torello to discuss local programs and NMM with Host, Rob Reiber. The interview was replayed throughout January on Channel 17 and is still available via their website.
You may have heard us chatting about mentoring on these radio talk shows:
| General Colin Powell, the key spokesperson of this year’s campaign, was featured in a public service announcement for NMM. Our Mobius tagged PSA was aired locally on television stations: ABC22, CCTV, FOX44, WCAX, WNNE, WPTZ; as well as radio stations: Champ 101.3, DOT 96.7, The Point 104.7, Star92.9, WBTZ 99.9, WIZN 106.7, WJOY1230AM, WKOL 105.1, WNMR 107.1, WOKO 98.9, WRUV 90.1, WVMT 620AM, WWPV 88.7, and The Zone 960AM. |
Thank Your Mentor Day is the highlight of NMM, a time to honor important mentors in our lives. Mobius and affiliated programs celebrated the efforts of 788 Chittenden County mentors with a special recognition breakfast. NMM spokesman Coach Tom Brennan emceed the event at the Burlington Hilton.
Program coordinators read nomination speeches to acknowledge outstanding mentors, as well as those celebrating five or more years of service. Guest speaker Marissa Wilkens, who mentors at HowardCenter’s Community Friends Mentoring program spoke about the value of mentoring in our community.
Hosted by the ECHO Aquarium & Science Center/Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, Community Science Night is a part of our NMM campaign. Over 100 mentors & mentees in attendance received orange Mobius tee-shirts and enjoyed a free evening of exhibit exploration, science activities, a live animal show and a buffet-style dinner. Local NMM spokesman Coach Tom Brennan made a guest appearance to speak at the event.
Rachael Sparks, a St. Michael’s student who mentors through the college’s M.O.V.E. program, attended Community Science Night with her mentee, Tiffany. “I have loved being a mentor to Tiffany for the past three years,” said Rachael. “At this point, though, our relationship goes far beyond that of mentor and mentee. We are great friends. She has had as much, if not more, of an impact on my life as I’ve had on hers. I know that our friendship will last far beyond our mentoring connection and I can’t wait to see her grow throughout her life.”
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