It’s one thing to recruit mentors but it’s another thing to give them and their young buddies enough opportunities to just have a good time.
That’s why a recent grant of $2,000 from St. Albert Community Foundation has put such a smile on Lorraine Gerling’s face. Up until now, the program manager of Sidekicks Mentoring had to get by with the help of many friends just to put on monthly activities.
“We were really struggling for activity funds. We’re not funded for them. That’s not part of our regular funding,” she said. “It is purely on donations and things that we can get from the community.”
“When we do an activity, we try to get any type of donation depending on where we go.”
With at least two group activities scheduled each month, she was otherwise left with precious little energy to focus on her main objective of getting new mentors for an ever-growing list of unmatched mentees.
That’s what prompted her to approach the foundation for the event funding. It would help her focus her energy and creativity toward her main objective of recruiting mentors, instead of asking grocery stores to donate hotdogs for a group barbecue.
“Sidekicks is really recognizing the fact that it is hard to get mentors. It doesn’t matter if you’re Big Sisters, Big Brothers, if you’re Uncles at Large, it is hard to find volunteers who are willing to make that kind of commitment. It’s been years now that people just want the accelerated volunteering where they can come in, do their thing and be gone. Sidekicks is not that. Mentoring is not that.”
It often takes a long time and a fair bit of flexibility (especially with regards to people’s schedules and interests) but when mentors do come on board, they’re fantastic, she continued.
“Looking at our waiting list, all these kids that are waiting – sometimes more than two years – for a mentor. It’s not helping them in the meantime if they’re just sitting there.”
“Sidekicks has really embraced the activities and the events as an opportunity to get these kids involved, get them connected. A big one is with our group mentors.”
Group mentors are volunteers who don’t necessarily want to be matched one on one with a high level of commitment. Instead, they sign up for planning and participating in activities with a group of kids. She said that these group mentors still have lots of opportunity to be a positive role model to the children.
“We have really been focusing on that to help with our waiting list. That being said, Sidekicks has doubled (in the number of mentees) in the last two years.”
Promotion through social media has had a big role in that population explosion. “Word of mouth … it’s made a huge impact,” she said. More people are more aware of what the program is and she has found that even parents aren’t necessarily looking for an individual match for their kids. Group mentors and group activities have become a better way for Sidekicks to grow its community.
“Recognizing that everybody is so busy and everybody’s lives are so different, how best can we try and get what the kids need from the program in different ways. Group mentors are definitely one way. We’ve had to evolve that way.”
She has also had to work to continue promoting who can benefit from the program. In her view, every kid needs a mentor.
“Something we’ve had to work on is people’s definition of need. We’ve really promoted the fact that there’s a bunch of definitions of need. People think that in Sidekicks you have to be a single parent, low-income family … period. That’s not true.”
She said that the more developmental assets kids have, the better and more well balanced their lives will become.
Of course, she’s always on the lookout for more mentors to further that cause.
“Male mentors,” she specified. “2014 was an amazing year for mentors. The families increased but so did the number of matches. We had some excellent numbers for 2014 and I’m hoping it’s going to be the same again for 2015.”
People can learn more about Sidekicks via its website at www.stalbertcivc.com/sidekicks-mentoring.
