Was it your dream to be in the NFL? Be a friend to Chance!

This could be you at a Vikings (or Packers) game with your new friend!

We currently have 56 kids waiting for a mentor!  Please consider coming forward as an individual, a couple, or a family to befriend a child age 5-16 for weekly fun and enriching everyday activities.

Here is just one youth currently waiting...

First name:  Chance

Age:  8

Interests:  Chance enjoys all sports, especially football (he plays flag football), baseball, volleyball, & tennis.  He also loves swimming, Frisbee, ice skating, ice fishing, sledding, &snowboarding.

Personality/Characteristics:  He lives with his mom, & younger sister.  Chance is friendly and social.  He’s in 2^nd grade.

Goals/Dreams: Chance’s dream is to be in the NFL.   He’s looking for an active male role model (individual or couple or family) who loves sports. 

For more information, check out Kids 'n Kinship's website www.kidsnkinship.org or call 952-892-6368.  Our next information session is Thursday Nov. 20th, 6-6:45 pm at the Wescott Library in Eagan.  

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.

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.