Tremendous public awareness and mentor referrals during NMM
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- More than 120 adults signed up to become mentors with 42 different programs
- MMP garnered and distributed more than $10,000 worth of free match activities to over 30 programs across the state, including 200 tickets to a Springfield Armor basketball game and 60 tickets to Celtics games
- Exposure from news articles and online ads (see box at right) led to an almost 100 percent increase in web traffic to www.massmentors.org
- Many programs in our network held amazing events, like the Brockton Promise Mentor Recruitment rally, at which 75 people signed up to learn more about mentoring
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| Local match attends White House mentoring event |
A local mentor-mentee pair who won a national competition to star in a  NMM television public service announcement got the surprise of their lives when they were invited to attend a White House event celebrating mentoring.
MMP nominated Deborah Everett and Becky Levasseur of Big Friends Little Friends in Fall River for the ReelPeople competition, and the PSA aired nationally on various channels during January. In Massachusetts, the PSAs aired on several channels - including in the Springfield market - and were underwritten by Bernie and Phyl's for airtime on WHDH in Boston.
The pair then had the privilege of attending a Jan. 20 mentoring event at the White House and shook First Lady Michelle Obama's hand!
"We are so proud of Deborah and Becky," said Mary Vasconcellos, case manager for BFLF. "This was such a great and memorable event in both of their lives, and we have MMP to thank for accepting this match's nomination for the ReelPeople Project in the first place."
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Breakthrough research revealed at
Youth Mentoring Forum |
Held Jan. 27 at the InterContinental, and sponsored generously by State Street Corporation and the University of Massachusetts - Boston, the Forum brought together a diverse group of  funders, mentoring programs and community leaders. The highlight of the event was a presentation by locally based, nationally renowned researchers Dr. Belle Liang, Dr. Jean Rhodes, and Dr. Renée Spencer, who spoke of their breakthrough research about guiding ethics for mentors. Boston City Councillor-at-Large Ayanna Pressley appeared in a video to announce a collaboration with fellow City Councillor Stephen Murphy to present an order to enact a volunteer leave policy for Boston City employees. Pressley recently made history as the first African-American woman elected to City Council. Also providing leadership were J. Keith Motley, Ph.D., Chancellor of UMass Boston , and George A. Russell, Jr., Executive Vice President, State Street Corporation, who encouraged attendees to continue supporting mentoring. |
Programs capitalize on State House visit
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 More than 200 people, including state legislators, mentoring program staff, mentors and mentees from across Massachusetts, descended upon the State House for Youth Mentoring Day on Jan. 21 to raise awareness for youth mentoring and celebrate legislative champions of mentoring.
This year's honorees were State Sen. Stan Rosenberg, President Pro Tempore; State Rep. Patricia Haddad, State Rep. Smitty Pignatelli, and State Sen. Jack Hart.
"I have been a strong advocate for this funding in the past and I look forward to continuing the fight to provide the essential funds these programs deserve," Rep. Pignatelli said in an article on iBerkshires.com.
After the event, more than 30 programs from across the state met with their legislators - the most ever - to voice their support of youth mentoring.
Check out the great photos from the event!
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Basketball Hall of Fame welcomes prospective mentors
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A mentor recruitment party on Jan. 14 featured six Western  Massachusetts mentoring programs and more than 70 people - including prospective mentors.
The Mayor of Springfield, Dominic Sarno, the Chief Parent and Community Engagement Officer of the Springfield Public Schools, Patricia Spradley, and the Principal of Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical High School, Kevin McCaskill, noted the positive impact that mentoring has had on Springfield youth and encouraged attendees to consider mentoring as a volunteer opportunity.
The program concluded with a presentation to honor Leslie Lawrence, a local volunteer and advocate for mentoring, who has recruited over 100 mentors to serve at area programs.
On Facebook? Then be sure to view our event pictures!
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Mentoring included in Governor's proposed FY 2011 budget
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After engaging in extensive work with the Department of Education, and the Office of Administration and Finance, we are grateful to share that the Mentoring Line Item was included in the Governor's proposed FY11 budget at $100,000. This follows three consecutive budget proposals in which mentoring was not included. There were $800 million in cuts that did not make his proposed $28.2 billion budget. This is just the beginning of a five-month process, so please stay tuned for further updates, advocacy-related educational opportunities and calls to action. Review the steps of the budget process and how the Mentoring Line Item fared in FY 2010.
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