Dear Friends,
As a non-profit organization serving children in Garrett County, we are grateful for the generosity of our community to support the children we serve. This year we celebrate 15 years since our founding! Since 2008 we have been providing children with various needs with positive, caring, adult volunteers serving as lunchtime mentors at school. Many children are referred by counselors and school staff due to lack of support at home or other difficult circumstances creating the need for a positive, adult role model. Mentors and children meet together at school for weekly, one-on-one lunchtime sessions. Mentors become strong, reliable and positive examples in the lives of children in prekindergarten through grade 6 students across our county. Aside from our in-school services we also plan educational, fun and cultural out-of-school activities for the children that they would likely not experience otherwise. These activities allow them to bond with their mentors in a new environment. The children and their families are also often provided with individual resources or assistance as needed and we also plan a few service opportunities for the children each year, allowing them to practice giving back to others. Due to significant challenges faced by many families during the pandemic, there has been an even stronger and more urgent need for our services than ever before, requiring us to provide more training, volunteers, supplies and resources to meet these needs now and into the future.
The 2022-2023 school year was very exciting for us. We set up many new mentors and children together at schools. We continued recruiting mentors and working with counselors to identify students in need of our program. We held many meaningful out-of-school bonding events for our students and mentors throughout the year and we look forward to planning many more programs for our students, strengthening and continuing to build our program and serving even more children in need as we approach a new school year of mentoring in the fall!
To support our mission, we are pleased to launch our 2023 fundraising campaign. To help us raise the necessary funds for the next school year, we graciously invite you to consider supporting our organization through this campaign. Below you will find donation options for supporting our organization. All donations are tax deductible and funds received not only go directly to our organization, but will also help us raise funds to put toward our Garrett Mentors Tucker Community Foundation Run for It Event team being held in September, allowing us to earn even more funds back! All funds raised we get to keep and we then we earn even more on top of that through the Foundation!
Two ways to donate:
- Donate online: Click here to donate online using PayPal or a credit card.
- Donate by check: Checks can be made out to Garrett Mentors. Our mailing address is: Garrett Mentors, Inc. PO box 725 Oakland, MD 21550.
We truly appreciate your consideration. Mentoring is very impactful and we are always in need of new volunteer mentors. See our website for more information about signing up to mentor with us. We are so grateful for your consideration to support the children of Garrett County through our mentoring organization. Children in the program have been reported to have improved in classroom behaviors, respect for authority, relationships with adults and peers, self-concept and confidence, engagement in school and learning and attendance. Mentors have helped raise grades and have helped to improve the child’s feelings and attitudes about themselves and their abilities.
We believe that the future of our community can be changed and strengthened by investing in our children today. Thank you for joining us to support Garrett County children through mentoring!
With Gratitude,
Garrett Mentors, Inc
