Thanks and Giving

As we speed toward this year's Thanksgiving holiday I offer thanks for all those who read this blog and share the stories and to all who support youth Tutor, Mentor & learning programs, with time, talent and dollars.

Have a safe, happy holiday!

The Turkey graphic in the image above was created in 2009 by one of the students in the Cabrini Connections program, which I was leading at that time.  He was one of a few students who participated in a weekly technology club, which offered extra learning and mentoring beyond the one-on-one connections.  You can see his and another Thanksgiving graphic here.

The tech club was just one of the extra learning activities available to the 7th to 12th grade students at Cabrini Connections (which is now Chicago Tutoring Connection).  The graphic below visualizes the idea and uses a map to urge that mentor-rich programs be available in every high poverty area of the Chicago region (and in other places).

Think of these programs as retail stores full of "hope" & "opportunity"

Making such programs available, and keeping them available and constantly improving as kids move from middle school through high school, requires a lot of time, talent and dollars, from volunteers, donors and staff.  It also requires a commitment from students to attend weekly sessions.

Next Tuesday, December 3, you can support youth tutor, mentor and learning programs in the Chicago area.  On the ILGive site  (now an archive) you can search and find many of the programs in my Chicago programs list.

For the past 20 years I've advocated that donors should use a program's web site as their grant request.  For that to work, programs need to show enough information on their sites to convince donors and students to want to participate. Many do that, but many fall short.

Thus, there's a role for volunteers from different industries to offer talent to help programs communicate their strategies.  Here are two pdf essays that focus on this idea.

*  Virtual Corporate Office - suggests ways volunteers with different skills can help programs

*  Shoppers Guide - shows information I would like to see on every program's web site.

Note. One of these is on Scribd.com and the other is on Slideshare,com.  Which do you prefer as a platform to view my PDF essays?  Post a message in the comments to share your thoughts.

This is the 25th Year Anniversary of launching the Tutor/Mentor Connection's first survey in January 1994 (after a year of planning).  While I operated as a 501-c-3 non profit until 2011 and was supported by grants and individual donations, I've operated as Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC since then.  I'm doing the same work, and still need contributions to help. 

Click here if you'd like to send a year end contribution to help me continue this work.

Thanks for reading. Be safe as you travel this weekend.  Don't forget GivingTuesday!