Vermont Business MagazineMobius will celebrate National Mentoring Month by hosting youth mentees, volunteer mentors, and mentoring supporters for its annual Mentoring Celebration at the Statehouse on Wednesday, January 18, 2017 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This event, made possible by support from lead event sponsor Redstone Commercial Group and other business supporters, will publicly recognize the adult mentors, youth mentees, and mentoring supporters in attendance, as well as the year-round service of the more than 140 mentoring programs and 2,300 volunteer mentors throughout the state.
Mobius photo of Emily and Autumn.
This year’s event will feature the reading of a Mentoring Month proclamation by Governor Phil Scott and recognition of the 2017 Comcast Vermont Mentor of the Year winner Emily Bellmore. Additionally, the Celebration will include the reading of a Mentoring Month resolution sponsored by Representative Sarah Copeland-Hanzas (Orange-2) of the Vermont House of Representatives, an interactive musical performance by Rajnii Eddins from the group Bless the Child, and guided statehouse tours for youth mentees and their mentors.
“I am honored to receive this wonderful award,” said Bellmore, a mentor for more than nine years through a program formerly coordinated by the Boys and Girls Club of Burlington. “It means a tremendous amount to me to be involved with the mentoring movement and with my community. I will honor this award by continuing my efforts to raise awareness about the greatness of mentoring, and help educate others about the powerful benefits mentoring has on both the mentor and mentee.”
“Comcast believes in giving back to the communities where our customers and employees live and work,” said Michael Parker, Regional Senior Vice President of Comcast’s Western New England Region, which includes Vermont. “We’re proud to support and partner with Mobius to recognize some of the individuals who are truly making a difference in their communities through mentoring and we congratulate Emily Bellmore for being named Mentor of the Year.”
The Mentoring Celebration at the Statehouse is a part of Mobius’ annual Vermont Mentoring Month campaign held each January. Throughout January 2017, Mobius and mentoring programs around the state are organizing a wide variety of activities to promote the positive benefits of mentoring, including volunteer recognition events, mentor pair activities, and benefit dinners at local restaurants. To learn more about the Mentoring Celebration, and other local mentoring events, visit www.mobiusmentors.org/mentoring-events-calendar.
Mobius’ 2017 Vermont Mentoring Month campaign is made possible through the continued support of Lead Statehouse Event Sponsor Redstone Commercial Group and Mentor of the Year Award Sponsor Comcast; Vermont Mentoring Month Sponsors Cabot Creamery Cooperative, Rutland Regional Medical Center, and the University of Vermont Medical Center; as well as Mentoring Supporter Sponsors DR Power Tools, Heritage Aviation, Langrock Sperry & Wool, Local Muscle Movers, New England Federal Credit Union, Union Mutual of Vermont, and Vermont Gas.
The theme of the 2017 National Mentoring Month campaign is “Mentor In Real Life,” which encourages mentoring supporters and mentors to talk about the real-life benefits of mentoring. Nationally, the campaign is spearheaded by the Harvard School of Public Health, and MENTOR (The National Mentoring Partnership), with support from the Highland Street Foundation.
About Mentoring: According to the “Mentoring Effect,” a study released in 2014 by MENTOR (The National Mentoring Partnership), one in three youth in Vermont will enter adulthood without having a formal or informal mentoring relationship with a caring adult. The results of national studies by MENTOR and Big Brothers Big Sisters illustrate that a mentor can enhance a young person’s learning skills and help him or her build resiliency and pro-social skills. Youth with mentors are less likely to engage in risky behavior with drugs and alcohol, are more likely to develop positive relationships with peers and adults, and more likely to pursue college and other post-secondary opportunities.
About Mobius: Now in its fourth year as Vermont’s Mentoring Partnership, Mobius supports approximately 140 adult-to-youth mentoring program sites that serve 2,300 mentor pairs throughout the state. In addition to managing the Vermont Mentoring Grants, Mobius also offers technical support to program staff, maintains an online program directory and referral system for volunteers, manages a quality-based program management database, raises public awareness of mentoring, and works with programs to lead statewide mentoring initiatives. For more information about Mobius, and mentoring programs and initiatives in Vermont, visitwww.mobiusmentors.org.