On the Road Again

On Wednesday May 22nd the brave CEM bike riders embarked on their 900 mile trip through Wisconsin.  For the 8th year these bike riders, led by former Kids 'n Kinship mentor John Elder, have biked 900 miles to raise awareness & funds for Kids 'n Kinship.  In years past they've biked from Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska & Iowa.  The ride is named the Christian Elder Memorial Bike Ride for Christian Elder, John's son, who passed away in 2007.

This year the riders are John Elder, Kids 'n Kinship board member Dennis Hill, Kathy Kelly, Bob Porter, Nate Cline, & Kids 'n Kinship former mentor Larry Koehler. They bring an RV and road crew Dave Goodermont, Jay Saterbak, & Jim Elder. 

To read about their adventure, go to their road diary: http://cem900.com/diary.html 

To donate towards our goal of raising $30,000 for Kids 'n Kinship, go to: http://givemn.razoo.com/story/2013-Christian-Elder-Memorial-900

ALSO, Join us in celebrating their return!  
Saturday June 8th, 11 am to 12 noon at Merchants Bank in Apple Valley
 
We will have live music by the Dakota Brass Quintet, hot dogs & root beers!  EVERYONE is welcome! 

For more information, go here: http://eagan.patch.com/groups/events/p/welcome-home-party-for-cem-bike-ridershttp://eagan.patch.com/groups/events/p/welcome-home-party-for-cem-bike-riders

Rick's Bike Sale A Huge Success!

Rick Anderson, mentor in Kids 'n Kinship, hosted his 5th annual bike sale last weekend at his home in Apple Valley.  It was a huge success, despite the rain, and his biggest sale yet!   He sold 129 bikes to community members, many of whom are participants in Kids 'n Kinship. As a result, Rick generously donated over $11,000 raised this year to Kids 'n Kinship!   Overall his sales have brought in more than $33,000 to Kids 'n Kinship over the years and we couldn't be more grateful for his support!
 
Here's a photo of a young man, who is matched through Kids 'n Kinship, enjoying his new bike!

Where are the MEN in Mentoring?

Recently, the Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota conducted a study surveying 74 mentoring programs in MN.  They found that despite the nearly 200,000 youth being mentored in the state, there are 250,000 more who are in need an adult mentor. According to the study*, the most common reason for youth to be on a mentoring program waiting list is due to the lack of mentors available. Additionally, twice as many women step forward to mentor as men. Therefore 29% of male youth wait a year or more before being matched with a mentor, compared to only 5 percent of female youth. 

Kids 'n Kinship's own numbers also reflect this need for more men in mentoring. Currently approximately 60% of our 76 matches have female mentees and 65% of our 43 children on the waiting list are male. There could be a variety of factors in these statistics, including perhaps a higher rate of boys being referred to mentoring programs due to more mothers getting custody and a lack of male role models.  It could also be that mentoring programs appeal more to women than men, despite attempts to engage men in the process of helping to support the next generation.

Consider becoming a friend to a youth in need.  All it takes is a willingness to step up and try.  Just be present with a child.  You don't have to be a perfect man or woman to be a role model and friend to a kid.  More than anything these children just want to have fun and our mentors say they enjoy doing kid-focused activities too.  You can even mentor with your spouse, partner, or family.  Attend our information session TONIGHT Wednesday May 15, 6-6:45 pm at the Conference Room at Burnhaven Library in Burnsville or Tuesday June 4, 6-6:45 pm at the Wescott Library in Eagan.  For more information on Kids 'n Kinship, go to www.kidsnkinship.org.

*http://www.mpmn.org/Files/State%20of%20Mentoring%20Survey%20News%20Release%20-FINAL.pdf

Helping Youth THRIVE!

Kids 'n Kinship had a fantastic chat group this week about helping mentees thrive!  THANKS to all 16 mentors who attended and shared their challenges and successes in mentoring! 

We had a lively discussion about how to help youth thrive.  Using the StepItUp2Thrive curriculum, we talked about what a spark is (a passion, hobby or interest which motivates us to make the world a better place) and how to identify a mentee's sparks and support them.  We also discussed how to differentiate between a fixed mindset (in which youth believe their skills & intelligence are innate and unchangeable) and a growth mindset, (in which youth believe they can learn and improve over time).  Youth with a growth mindset are much more dedicated to learning and working hard in school and in life and thus are more successful than those with a fixed mindset. We talked about educating youth about this distinction and encouraging them to adopt a growth mindset by praising any effort or progress and discouraging negative self-talk or labeling.  Finally we covered the importance of small, measurable goals determined by the youth, not set upon them by others.  

All of us at Kids 'n Kinship are so grateful to our fantastic volunteers who go above and beyond to support their mentees!

For more on StepItUp2Thrive curriculum, go to StepItUp2thrive.org
For more on sparks, go to http://www.search-institute.org/sparks

For more on the concept of mindset, go to http://mindsetonline.com/

To learn more about mentoring through Kids 'n Kinship, go to www.kidsnkinship.org