Can you help Maggie navigate the murky waters of the teen years?

Kids 'n Kinship has nearly 50 youth waiting for mentors in Apple Valley, Burnsville, Eagan, Farmington, Lakeville and Rosemount.  Heading into the new year, would you consider spending time once a week with a teen or child?  All it takes is a desire to be their friend, someone they can count on and have fun with.  You can even mentor with your spouse or family.

Here’s one of the youth waiting for that special friend:

First name:  Maggie

Age:  14

Interests:  Maggie is a huge fan of the band One Direction.  She also loves swimming, biking, doing crafts, going to parks, and visiting historical museums. She loves animals, though she only has a fish for a pet. She misses her cat and would love a mentor with a cat, dog, or turtle as a pet.

Personality/Characteristics:  Maggie is sweet and a little shy. She lives with her grandparents and is looking forward to having a mentor individual or couple to have someone else to talk to and hang out with.

Goals/Dreams:  Her wishes are to live with her sister and to have her cat back.

Looking For: An individual or couple, preferably with pets, to help her with friendship skills and self-confidence.

For more information: Maggie is waiting for a mentor through Kids n’ Kinship. To learn more about mentoring Maggie or another child contact Kids n’ Kinship at www.kidsnkinship.org or 952-892-6368. 

Photos by DigitalArt, courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Kids 'n Kinship Thanks Our Supporters!

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, I want to take this opportunity to share how thankful Kids 'n Kinship is for all of our sponsors, donors, and volunteers who have supported us this year!

There are simply too many to list them all here, but we are so appreciative of each supporter who gave time, goods, or money to help Kids 'n Kinship continue our mission of matching youth with positive role models here in Dakota County!

We had a very busy but successful autumn raising $22,000 from our 2013 Gala and another $6,000 from our 2013 Bowlathon.  Many thanks to our sponsors & in-kind donors for the Bowlathon! 

Sponsors: AAA Minnesota Iowa Wayne and Carole Stockman Thrivent Financial US Federal Credit Union Eagan Lions KleinBank Robert A. Bjorkman, DDS Burnsville Women of Today The Credit Department, Inc First Presbyterian Church Marshall Nelson and Associates

In-Kind Donors: Cedarvale Lanes Media Relations JJ Taylor Merchant’s Bank UTC Aerospace Mackin Media Library Barnes & Noble Peeps & Company

137 Kids 'n Kinship Participants and community members bowled that day and had a wonderful time!  Our raffle baskets & silent auctions baskets were a huge hit, bringing in $675 for Kids 'n Kinship!  We especially enjoyed have the Peeps Mobile there with giveaways for kids and Nicole, Kelley & Amanda's volunteering with us that day!

It's not too late to donate to the bowlathon! http://www.razoo.com/story/Kidsnkinshipbowlathon

THANK YOU for your support!

Special thanks to our volunteer mentors who volunteer an hour or two a week to be a friend to a child! Thanks to you, 79 youth currently have someone to look up to, have fun with, and someone who believes in them! 

50 more youth are waiting for a mentor.  Please contact us today to find out more about how you can step in to a child's life and make a difference!  Our next information session is Monday December 9, 6-6:45 pm at the Wescott Library in Eagan. RSVP to Rita 651-686-0990. For more information, go to  www.kidsnkinship.org

Gearing up for our 14th Annual Bowlathon!

Kids 'n Kinship is in high-gear getting ready for our 14th Annual Bowlathon at Cedarvale Lanes on Sunday, November 10th!  100 Kids 'n Kinship mentors, mentees, & their family members are joining us for bowling in our completely full first session.  Then, 50 community members on teams from Eagan High School, AAA Minnesota/Iowa, Best Buy, & Elder-Jones are bowling for us in the second session.  Everyone is invited to purchase raffle tickets to try to win one of our 3 lovely themed baskets and also to bid on our 3 baskets in our silent auction. Kids 'n Kinship is so thankful for each person who made calls, picked up items, collected pledges, or brought in friends, neighbors, or family for this event!  It's not too late to donate and contribute to youth mentoring in Dakota County.  To donate, go here: http://www.razoo.com/story/Kidsnkinshipbowlathon

See some of our lovely baskets below:

For more about Kids 'n Kinship youth mentoring, go to www.kidsnkinship.org

Kids 'n Kinship Gala Raised Nearly $24,000!

Kids 'n Kinship's 2013 Gala raised $23,635!  These funds are so key to our continuing to serve youth in Dakota County by matching them with a mentor.  All of us on staff at Kids 'n Kinship are so grateful to EVERYONE who made it possible!

Special thanks to all of the committee members who donated hours of time planning the event!

Kids 'n Kinship also thanks all of the donors!  See full list on our homepage: www.kidsnkinship.org

2013 Gala a Huge Success!

Our 2013 Gala was a huge success!  We were completely sold out with 160 attendees! Preliminary numbers show that we raised over twice our goal!  Kids 'n Kinship is so thankful to everyone who supported the event by sponsoring it, donating items for the silent auction, wine pull or purse pull, or who promoted or attended the event.

Special thanks to guest musician Tim Mahoney for sharing his talent with us & to James Backstrom, Dakota County Attorney, for being our Master of Ceremonies!

We especially appreciate Drew Hendrickson who gave his testimony about how being mentored as a child changed his life!

Also special thanks to everyone who served on our gala committee - we couldn't have done it without you!

THANK YOU for helping Kids 'n Kinship to continue to serve youth in Dakota County by matching them with volunteer mentors!

For more information about Kids 'n Kinship, go to www.kidsnkinship.org

It's not too late to register for Kids 'n Kinship's Gala!

Kids 'n Kinship staff & committee members are in the final stages of preparing for our 2013 Annual Gala on Sunday Oct. 6th, 4:30-7 pm at the Crystal Lake Golf Club in Lakeville!

We're super excited to have Tim Mahoney, Twin Cities Favorite from The Voice, as our musician!  This is his website: http://timmahoney.com/
Here's a preview of my favorite song by him, Shine Through: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo40NXmUXCM

We have 85 bottles of wine for the wine pull and 32 purses for the purse pull and more are coming in every day!

We also have a great list of silent auction items including:
all sorts of gift sets (gardening, barbeque, wine-themed, & more)
a Kindle & a Nook
gift certificates for Abdallah chocolate, a variety of other stores & restaurants, &housecleaning
driving lessons
a Toro snow thrower
bread for a year from Panera Bread
tickets to the Twins, Timberwolves & Wild
passes for golf, yoga, The Works, Fright Night, & a science museum tour
& even wooden bowls made by my dad!

Don't miss it!  Register here TODAY!http://kidsnkinship2013gala.eventbrite.com/

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The 2013 College Football Coaches Challenge is Underway!

Kids 'n Kinship is proud to be one of 10 Expert Partner mentoring programs teaming up with the Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota and the University of Minnesota in the 2013 Coaches Challenge!

The challenge is geared towards recruiting mentors for top mentoring programs in the state. Gophers Football Coach Jerry Kill is challenged off the field by his peers in Iowa, Nebraska, Michigan and Kansas. Coach Kill has entered a “Coaches Challenge” to recruit more mentors for Minnesota’s youth. Coach Kill, MPM and the mentoring programs will work to close the mentoring gap for more than 250,000 Minnesota young people who could benefit from a mentoring relationship.  

This Coaches Challenge could be especially helpful in recruiting men for the many boys on our waiting list. Did you know that two times as many women mentor than men? And yet 29% of boys wait a year or more to be matched with a mentor.  Men, think of the types of important talks you have had with other men & role models, perhaps a coach or an uncle or a family friend. Now, imagine a young boy not having that opportunity.  You can provide that for them.  Visit www.BeAMentorMN.com to sign up today!

For more information on Kids 'n Kinship explore our website, www.kidsnkinship.org.  We have information sessions scheduled for Tues. Sept. 24 at the Galaxie Library in Apple Valley (14955 Galaxie Ave.) and Thurs. Oct. 10 at the Burnhaven Library in Burnsville (1101 W. CR-42), both from 6:00-6:45 pm.

You're invited to our 2013 Annual Gala featuring Tim Mahoney!

Fall in Love with Kids 'n Kinship at our Annual Gala

featuring Tim Mahoney, Twin Cities Favorite from The Voice

Sunday, October 6, 2013

4:30-7:00 pm

Crystal Lake Golf Club

16725 Innsbrook Dr

Lakeville, MN 55044

Purchase tickets at: www.kidsnkinship2013gala.eventbrite.com

$40 per person, $280 for a table of eight

Join us for this wonderful Gala and learn how much there is to love about Kids ‘n Kinship...

·         Mentee Testimonial

·         Master of Ceremonies James Backstrom, Dakota County Attorney

·         Featuring the Incredible Music of Tim Mahoney

·         Silent Auction

·         Wine Cork Pull

·         Purse Tag Pull

Sponsor the Event or Make a Donation:  http://givemn.razoo.com/story/Kids-N-Kinship-Fall-Gala

Hot during this heat wave? Befriend Jake & have fun shooting hoops indoors, swimming & going places!

 A mentor family that enjoys playing basketball

With summer in full swing, kids are eager to get outside and to be active.  During this heat wave, there are many ways kids can still be active and yet cool off, like being indoors at a gym shooting hoops, going bowling, or swimming.  This is what 10-year-old Jake wants to do - get out and have fun in the community with a mentor!  Is he waiting for you?

First name: Jake

Age:  10

Interests:  He likes football, basketball and other sports.  He also enjoys all kinds of games, swimming, bowling, skating, and going places.

Personality/Characteristics:  Jake is a fun, positive kid.  In school, his teacher calls him a fact-master, though he gets distracted & frustrated at times. His single parent mom is looking for a mentor he can look up to and get out to do activities with.

Goals/Dreams:  He would like an individual or couple mentor to do fun activities with him.  Jake’s other wishes are for a new video game for his game system and a gift for his mom.

For more information: Jake is waiting for a mentor through Kids n’ Kinship. To learn more about us, contact Kids n’ Kinship at www.kidsnkinship.org or 952-892-6368. You can also attend an information session.  Our next one is Thursday, August 1st, 6:00-6:45 pm at Burnhaven Library in Burnsville. 

Enjoy canoeing or kayaking? Take Sara with you!

Summer is the perfect time for being out on the lake! It's also a great time to start mentoring with so many fantastic outdoor activities you can do with a youth!   You can mentor as an individual, a couple, or a family and all it takes is an hour a week doing hobbies and sports and things you might already be doing or trying new things together.  Scheduling is flexible and there are almost 50 children currently waiting for a mentor like Sara below.

 

First name:  Sara

Age:  13

Interests:  Sara enjoys playing volleyball, canoeing, kayaking, going for walks, baking & going places like ValleyFair.  She also likes watching movies, playing board games and spending time with animals!

Personality/Characteristics:  She is very sweet & respectful, though she can be shy.  She lives with her mom and many older siblings.   

Goals/Dreams:  Sara wishes she could have a dog and that she could go to Florida.  She’s looking for a female mentor to have someone to talk to besides her friends & family.

  

Sara is waiting for a mentor through Kids n’ Kinship. To learn more about  us visit our website www.kidsnkinship.org and attend an information session.  Our next one will be Thursday August 1st, 6:00-6:45 pm at the Burnhaven Library in Burnsville.  Call 952-891-3885 to RSVP.

Can't mentor now but want to support young people having summer fun (canoeing, swimming, climbing wall & archery)?  Donations are needed for the Kids 'n Kinship summer event at YMCA Camp Streefland on August 12th.  Contact Kids 'n Kinship at 952-892-6368 for more information on this opportunity.

Like comic book superheroes & playing with Legos? Be a friend to Tony!

First name:  Tony

Age:  8

Interests:  Tony loves superheroes like Captain America & Superman. He also loves playing soccer & baseball, going fishing, being around animals, reading Magic Tree House books, and playing with Legos.

Personality/Characteristics: He can be shy at first but when he opens up, he’s fun-loving & active.  Tony is well-mannered & respectful of adults.  He lives with his mom and younger brother.    

Goals/Dreams:  Tony wants to be in the army when he grows up.  He also wants to be a policeman.  He is looking for an individual or couple to mentor him & have fun with him.

  

For more information: Tony is one of 45 children ages 5-16 waiting for a mentor through Kids n’ Kinship, a private non-profit agency which has served children in Apple Valley, Burnsville, Eagan, Farmington, Lakeville & Rosemount for 41 years. To learn more about mentoring, attend an information session Tuesday July 9th, 6-6:45 pm at Wescott library in Eagan.  To RSVP or for more information, contact Kids n’ Kinship at www.kidsnkinship.org or 651-686-0990.