Mentors needed

FRISCO — Seventh-grader Leonardo Santos is one of the lucky ones.

Mountain Mentors matched him up with mentor Darryl Lee, who takes Santos on rafting trips, horseback riding, snowboarding, sports games and rock climbing. Before he met Lee about three years ago, Santos sat in front of the television playing video games.

“It helped me do a lot of things I wouldn’t be able to do,” Santos said, adding that the program has taught him he could carry a backpack bigger than him and accomplish other challenging tasks. “We can rock climb with each other and know that we are going to be safe. It’s helped me a lot — and it got me outside.”

But other kids aren’t as lucky as Santos. In fact, right now, 17 kids are waiting for a local mentor, and some of them have been waiting for almost a year, said Jake Quigley, Mountain Mentors coordinator.

Kids need role models

The worst part is that volunteerism has dwindled in the past year and a half. In years past, 10-12 new people would attend Mountain Mentors’ biannual informational meetings to become mentors. Last Wednesday’s meeting at the County Commons only drew two people — a trend Quigley has watched for the last 18 months.

Though he’s not sure exactly why people aren’t volunteering, lack of mentorship has been a national trend. In the 1990s, mentoring was “the new thing,” with celebrities and then-President Bill Clinton backing it.

“People got excited, and now it’s just another one of those volunteer opportunities,” Quigley said. “We’ve done everything in our power to get volunteers — a PR push with mentor of the month and ads on local cable and radio.

“It’s rough because for every mentor, we get three to four kids. It’s tough to keep up, especially in a small community when we can’t depend on the year-round population.”

Becoming a mentor

In fact, many second homeowners have expressed interest, but the program requires an average of a three to five hour a week commitment year-round, for a minimum of 12 months. Research has shown that a year makes a difference in a kid’s life, and any less than that can be detrimental.

Though Quigley says that sounds like a big commitment to many people, mentors soon discover the three to five hour a week commitment is “nothing.”

Mentors get discounts from about 25 local businesses, such as ski resorts, movies and restaurants, to spend time with their mentees.

Mountain Mentors encourages them to attend planned group activities once a month. Mentors teach kids about recreational activities, life skills such as money management, and community service. The program serves kids ages 6 to 16. Mentors range in age from 21 to 72 in Summit County, though the average age is mid-30s.

After a volunteer completes an application with references, background checks and an in-home interview, staff matches the adult with a child. The match, based on personalities and interests, can take a week to several months.

“We match particulars — what adults can offer and how it ties in to the kid,” Quigley said. “We have about an 80-percent success rate — every once in awhile it doesn’t work out. But I’ve seen more successes than failures by far in the nine years I’ve been doing this program.”

This year, Mountain Mentors celebrates an 11-year match, and an eight- and nine-year match. Quigley tells the story of a local who started in the mentoring program at age 6 because her mother and grandmother didn’t want her. Her school identified her as at-risk to drop out of school. But now she’s in her second year as a recipient of Magna Cum Laude at Metro State in Denver.

“She and her mentor are like mother-daughter,” Quigley said. “We see stories like that all the time.”

Mountain Mentors serves 45 kids. All are considered at-risk. The transient nature of Summit County, with unsettled peer interaction, as well as parents working multiple jobs and parents with drug or alcohol problems are the biggest risk factors here, Quigley said.

“There’s a pretty broad spectrum of what we would allow as risk factors,” he said. “I like to say every kid could use a mentor.”

For more information, call Quigley at (970) 668-4153 or Kelly Kissling at (970) 668-4154.

Kimberly Nicoletti can be reached at (970) 668-3998, ext. 245, or at knicoletti@summitdaily.com.

What is takes

n A genuine interest in young people and sensitivity to the needs of others

n An average of a three to five hour a week commitment for at least a year

n Monthly participation with staff and bi-annual mentor training

n Must be 21 years old

n Complete an application with four references, a criminal

background, a driving record check and an in-home interview.

n For more information, call Jake Quigley at (970) 668-4153.