Friends of Kinship Campaign

One of our recent successes in the mentoring program surrounds a young man and his mentor. This young man started the seventh grade in the 2010/2011 school year and, though very bright, was having a difficult time with anger management and forming successful peer relationships. In October, he was matched with a gentleman - a retired Department of Defense employee whose intelligence was matched only by his patience and his calm. Both avid fishermen, they spent many weekends ice fishing the frozen lakes of central Minnesota. This spring our Mentor encouraged his mentee to go out for track. Though not interested in sports, this young man decided to try. During one of the first practices, he exploded at the junior high track coach. Our Mentor and the coach decided to work together to help this young man get through the track season successfully. Our Mentor went above and beyond by attending track practices as well as his track meets to support this young man.

Just before the first track meet, he got into a fight at school and was suspended for three days. His mentor picked him up and they sat at McDonald's for over an hour discussing conflict and anger and how to make better choices for resolving difficult situations in life. The suspension resulted in this young man missing his first track meet, but he continued to keep trying at track. Though he did not win any meets, he was part of a team and saw the track season through to completion. Though he may not have won any medals, being involved with an organized sport provided him more opportunities to interact positively with his peers, have another adult (the coach) become a source of encouragement and support, and follow through with a commitment. I’m pleased to announce that this young man joined track for the 2011/2012 school year on his own.