Like this warm weather? Spring is the perfect time to get started mentoring!

Like fishing, swimming, and spending time outdoors?  Like you, many kids can't wait to get outside!  Be a friend to a child age 5-16 and include them as you do your hobbies and sports.  

Below is one child out of the 61 who are currently waiting for mentors with Kids 'n Kinship.

First name:  Jack

Age:  9

Interests:  Jack enjoys going to parks, swimming, fishing, legos, puzzles, and playing with dogs. He also likes building things, floor hockey, basketball, and football and is a Packers fan. He would also like to go to Grandslam or to volunteer at an animal shelter with a mentor.

Personality/Characteristics:  He is smart, fun to be around, and likes to make jokes. Jack lives with his mom, younger brother, & step-dad.  His biological dad is not in his life.  He is looking for an individual mentor preferably with a dog to spend time with him.

Goals/Dreams:  Jack would like to become a police officer.

For more information on Kids 'n Kinship, go to www.kidsnkinship.org.  We have volunteer applications, child profiles, success stories, as well as date of upcoming information sessions to learn more.  The next information session will be March 23, 6-6:45 pm at the Wescott Library in Eagan.  RSVP to Rita rykinship@aol.com

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.

Can't wait to spend more time enjoying the outdoors? Neither can Eddie!

Eddie is 8 years old and he enjoys being outdoors fishing, swimming, bike riding & playing football and soccer.  He also likes movies, video games, board games & playing the drums.

Eddie is friendly and talkative and eager to have fun with a mentor. His lives with his mom whose medical issues prevent her from doing as much as she’d like to with him.

He would like a mentor who loves animals, the outdoors & sports.  His wish is that world would have no more bullying!
 

Could you be the mentor for him?  To learn more, go to www.kidsnkinship.org or attend an information session.  Our next one is Tuesday April 9th, 6-6:45 pm at the Burnhaven Library in Burnsville.  RSVP to ihkinship@aol.com or 952-891-3885.  More dates listed on our website. Training & support provided.

Consider being a mentor to a boy like Garrisson!

We have 40 children waiting for a mentor right now.  One for every year Kids 'n Kinship has been serving children in Dakota County.   Most of them are boys, like Garrisson below.  Please consider being a mentor to a child!  

First name:  Garrisson   

Age:  11

Interests:  Garrisson is in 6th grade; he enjoys baseball, fishing, basketball and riding his bike.  he likes anything outdoors.  And he likes art

Personality/Characteristics:  Garrisson is very well mannered, he is friendly and talkative.  He really wants a mentor!  His mom works full time and he does not see his dad - he would love to do activities with a mentor.       

Goals/Dreams:  Garrisson would like to go to a baseball game or other sports event.

Looking For: An individual male mentor, couple, or family who will do activities with him.

For more information or to sign up, go to our website: www.kidsnkinship.org.

Guest Blog by Rita: A Real Fish Story

How do you detect a real fish story?  And what does it have to do with mentoring?

I am so very fortunate to have many wonderful mentor matches share stories with me.  A few months ago, I heard a fish story.  Is a fish story an exaggeration, by definition?  Well this match caught 86 fish – yeah 86. And they caught them ice fishing.  And it was the mentee’s first time ice fishing.  Soooo I’m thinking, really?  Well, the integrity of both the volunteer mentor and the teen mentee is reliable – and I have known them for 13 and 9 years, respectively – I am going with it.

This match is a joy to be around.  When I speak with them individually it is really a challenge to determine who has learned more from whom.  I like that, a lot.  Mentors tell me they sign up to give a kid some fun and opportunity.  They end up learning so much about gratitude, choices, decision making, dealing with circumstances they cannot control and joy.  That is not a fish story; it is a mentor story I have heard from male and female mentors, numerous times.

-Rita Younger, Program Coordinator, Kids 'n Kinship