LCC TeamMates celebrate National Mentoring Month

Laurel — January is National Mentoring Month, and this year LCC TeamMates had an event to help expand mentoring opportunities to connect more of the community’s young people with caring adults.

Students and adults involved in the local TeamMates Chapter  were honored at the Jan. 22 basketball game.

In conjunction, there was also a Taco in a Bag supper during  the game to raise money for scholarships and to support local TeamMates activities.

As part of the night, there was a raffle of a Husker football and a Husker book, “Return to Glory” about the 1997 championship season produced by the Lincoln Journal Star, both autographed by Tom Osborne.

The winners of the raffle were Ted Longe who won the book and Dana Osborne who won the football.

The LCC TeamMates Chapter has 57 students involved, in grades five through 12. Approximately 10 students are still waiting to be matched with a caring adult mentor. There are going to be more students who would like to be part of our program, so more adults are needed to make a difference in the life of a young person, it just requires being willing to meet once a week and get to know a student and be their positive influence.

Statistics show mentors play a powerful role in providing young people with the tools to strive and thrive, to attend and engage in school, and to reduce or avoid risky behavior like drug use. In turn, these young people are:

55% more likely to be enrolled in college

81% more likely to report participating regularly in sports or extracurricular activities 78% more likely to volunteer regularly in their communities.

Yet, the same research shows that one in three young people will grow up without a mentor.

Today, in Laurel there are many young people who could benefit from having a mentor.