Do crafts with Claire!

I remember as a child really enjoying creative projects and crafts. Young Claire is waiting for a school-based mentor through Kids 'n Kinship, the youth mentoring program in Dakota County. A mentor would meet with her during the school year for a half hour a day and then they could also get together for fun outings in the community over the summer and other vacations. Make a difference in the life of a child and be a friend to a young girl like Claire (or one of the other almost 50 children waiting for a mentor) today!

First name:  Claire
Age:  8
Interests:  Claire likes crafts and art, knitting, bead work and swimming and gymnastics! 
Personality/Characteristics:  She likes school, and would like a mentor who can meet with her at school (she in third grade) during the day this fall, and get together for activities outside of school during vacations and summer.
Goals/Dreams:  She would like a mentor who also likes art and would like to go to a park and play on the monkey bars!
Looking for: Her grandmother is looking for a mentor Claire can look up to and bond with and who will support her granddaughter.
For More Information: Claire is one of almost 50 children waiting for a mentor through Kids ‘n Kinship, a private nonprofit serving Apple Valley, Burnsville, Eagan, Farmington, Lakeville and Rosemount in Dakota County for 40 years. If you're interested in becoming a mentor, you're invited to attend an information session from 6 to 6:45 p.m. Wednesday July 11 at the Burnhaven Library in Burnsville. Mentors can volunteer as individuals, couples, or families for weekly fun and enriching activities at home or in the community on their own schedules.

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

Spend time outdoors with Sean!

On this beautiful day after so many days of heavy deluge and humidity and heat, I am reminded of the joys of spending time outdoors this time of year.  I can't wait to head out myself this afternoon!  Time outside is so rejuvenating and refreshing, especially for children who so often are cooped up indoors.  Statistics are scary about how much screen time today's children have.  They need more time in nature!  If you value this too, please consider sharing your time outdoors (whether it's a walk in a park, throwing a frisbee/baseball/football, or going boating or any other sport or hobby) with a child waiting for a mentor, like Sean here: 

 

Name: Sean  

Age:  13

Interests:  Sean enjoys being out in nature, biking, skateboarding and football.

Personality/Characteristics:  Sean is talkative, polite, intelligent and inquisitive.  He is a wonderful young man who is a big helper at home with his single parent mom and young sister ; he has also helped a teacher and neighbors. He is alone a lot and does not have the opportunity to do activities.  

Goals: Sean says he would like to get to know a mentor and learn from him.  Sean will be in 8^th grade this fall.

For More Information: Sean is one of almost 50 children waiting for a mentor through Kids ‘n Kinship, a private nonprofit serving Apple Valley, Burnsville, Eagan, Farmington, Lakeville and Rosemount in Dakota County for 40 years. If you're interested in becoming a mentor, you're invited to attend an information session from 6:00 to 6:45 p.m. Wednesday July 11th at the Burnhaven Library in Burnsville. Mentors can volunteer as individuals, couples, or families for weekly fun and enriching activities at home or in the community on their own schedules. Contact us at 952-892-6368 or go to our website www.kidsnkinship.org.

Thoughts on Father's Day

With Father's Day coming up and Mother's Day just recently passed, I've been thinking about how it takes a village to raise a child.  I believe Father's Day and Mother's Day are opportunities for all of us to contribute to the raising of children in our community.  Adult mentors of all kinds (uncles and grandfathers, teachers and coaches, as well as neighbors and mentors connected to a program like Kids 'n Kinship) can step in and spend time with children to encourage and have fun with them.  As a caring adult who doesn't have to spend extra time with a kid, a mentor is able to develop a friendship with a child.  Through that bond, mentors have a unique opportunity to teach social skills, help with schoolwork, and talk with the child about their behavior, choices, and goals. 

Take Cory, for example.  Before being matched with his mentor Bob, Cory was getting in trouble in school for fighting with other kids.  Cory has never known his dad, but in the last few months since being matched with Bob, he's been doing great at home and at school.  Cory enjoys having fun with Bob, but even more so he knows that Bob values him and believes the best of him and so Cory tries harder to get along with his peers at school, to focus on his schoolwork, and to help out at home with his little sister.  All it takes is an hour or two a week and caring about a kid, and you can make a difference.  Become a friend to a child today!

Join us for a Celebration on Saturday!

This Saturday, Kids 'n Kinship is celebrating the return of 6 bike riders from the Merchant's Bank CEM bike ride. CEM stands for Christian Elder Memorial bike ride, a 16 day 900 mile ride for Kids 'n Kinship done by John Elder and his team of riders in loving memory of his son Christian Elder who passed away in 2007.

This year the riders (including John Elder, Dennis Hill, Jay Saterbak, Kathy Kelly, Dennis Danielson "Denny" and Bob Porter) are touring the trails in Wisconsin with the help of their road crew Gordy Clough and Jim Elder. To read about their adventure, go to their road diary: http://cem900.com/diary.html

Help us welcome home the CEM riders!

We'll have hot dogs, root beer floats, and live music!

11 A.M. - 12 NOON
Sat. June 9th
Merchants Bank parking lot
7300 147th St W,
Apple Valley, MN 55124

This is a FREE event and open to all community members! So please join us!

Enjoy sports and being outdoors? Share them with a boy in your community!

Below is a profile for one of the almost 50 children waiting for a friend right here in Dakota County.  Chips is typical of the boys in our program in that he lives with his mom, has little if any contact with his dad, and is desperate for a chance to get outside and do guy stuff with someone.  Could that someone be you?  Please consider befriending a boy through Kids 'n Kinship!  We provide orientation, training, and on-going support and all it takes is an hour or two a week of doing what you already do (i.e. going to parks, sports, grilling, working on the car, landscaping, etc.) with a boy this summer.

First name:  Chips
Age:  9
Interests:  Chips likes playing basketball, football, and baseball as well as skateboarding, swimming, & bowling.
Personality/Characteristics:  He is active and eager to go places and spend time outside this summer.  He lives with his single parent mom and his younger brother. Chips is in 3rd grade and likes math in school.  
Goals/Dreams:  His wish is for a mentor who can take him places and have fun with him
Looking For:  He and his mom would like a male mentor or couple who can meet with him, getting together for outdoor activities, sports, and games.
For More Information: Chips is one of almost 50 children waiting for a mentor through Kids ‘n Kinship, a private nonprofit serving Apple Valley, Burnsville, Eagan, Farmington, Lakeville and Rosemount in Dakota County for 40 years. If you're interested in becoming a mentor, you're invited to attend an information session from 6:00 to 6:45 p.m. Tuesday June 12th at the Wescott Library in Eagan. Mentors can volunteer as individuals, couples, or families for weekly fun and enriching activities at home or in the community on their own schedules. Contact us at 952-892-6368 or go to our website www.kidsnkinship.org.

Guest Blog: A little fun makes a world of difference

Ten years ago I read a newspaper article that articulated the benefit mentoring can provide to children needing a role model/friend; benefits such as an improved self worth, a greater likelihood of staying in school and staying out of trouble......and simply spending some time having fun.  It took a couple of years to get me motivated, but the article eventually inspired me to contact Dakota County based Kids 'n Kinship, learn the process of becoming a mentor, and then becoming one.

For me, it was a life changing experience.  My initial concern of committing time to meet with the 11 year old boy I was matched with once a week quickly evaporated with the good times we had together.  Our activities included bowling, shooting pool, cooking out on the grill, board games, movies and biking.  As he matured, I taught him to play racquetball and cribbage--he is now 19 years old, and beats me regularly at both.  A mentor's role is to be a role model, and a friend, to offer encouragement, and to be nonjudgmental.  In addition to being there for him, he was there for me.  I wouldn't understand half of the features that that today's electronic gadgetry offered if he wasn't there to teach me.  

Along with several companions, I created and have ridden the Merchants Bank Christian Elder Memorial 900 each of the past six years.  The ride, a memorial to my son Christian Elder, is ridden as a benefit to Kids 'n Kinship.  We embark on our seventh Christian Elder Memorial 900 on May 24.  Those interested in following our bicycling adventure are invited to check out our Road Diary on the website http://www.cem900.com./

Tonight I'm spending some time with my friend.  I am no longer his formal mentor; he has his own apartment living in Minneapolis.  I treasure the time spent with him as a youngster, as a teenager, and finally as a young adult.  My only concern for this evening is which one of us will win at cribbage..........

- John Elder, ambassador & former mentor with Kids 'n Kinship