It's my 74th Birthday Tomorrow

 

Every year since 2011 I've asked people to "light a candle" on my birthday cake to help me celebrate my December 19th birthday.

Lighting a candle, at $7.40 each, is a comfortable way for people to support the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC, which is not a 5-0-1-c3, meaning donations are not tax exempt.

Here's a page where you can make that contribution. 

If you read blog articles back to mid 2011 you'll see that I led a Chicago non-profit, that I created, from 1992 until mid 2011.  When I separated and took ownership of the Tutor/Mentor Connection, which I launched in 1993 at the same time as launching the Cabrini Connections youth tutor/mentor program, I did not  have a team of volunteers/supporters to form a new non profit, so created the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC to give me legal structure and time to find new ways to support the Tutor/Mentor Connection in Chicago and help it grow in other cities.

I'm still trying to do that but as I'm getting older my purpose is moving more toward trying to motivate others to create new versions, based on my history. I've written about this often, including last week.

While my birthday only comes once a year I maintain an on-going "Fund T/MI" page which a few supporters continue to use to send contribution. 

You can find the link to the "Fund T/MI" page, by clicking here.   

I have not drawn a salary since 2011 and have used my own savings to help fund the annual expenses which I've cut to the bare bones, just to keep the tutor/mentor library and my list of Chicago programs updated and to maintain this blog and my outreach and networking on social media.

The T/MC was never fully funded.  This document shows the organizational structure that I've been trying to build since the late 1990s. It would take $300-$500k per year to fully fund this in a big city like Chicago.  Even in our best years we never had more than $200k for the T/MC.  And, we started the organization with no money, and no commitments of money,  in November 1992. There were just six volunteers and myself. You can view this concept map to see highlights of the T/MC from 1992-now. 

While I might not be able to raise that much money, others with a broader network and reach into high wealth donor communities could do this easily.  

I've used maps and an extensive library of research to show the many areas in Chicago where tutor/mentor programs are needed and where nearly 200,000 k-12 youth live in high poverty.  The city has never sustained an on-going marketing and resource development plan like I've piloted, nor have any city leaders made an effort to support the T/MC.  

Other major cities could (and do) create maps showing where poverty is most concentrated and could duplicate the T/MC strategies to help a wide range of birth-to-work programs grow in every high poverty zip code.  Thus, others could borrow from what I'm doing (with, or without my help) and build such a strategy.

Your contributions to my 74th Birthday Campaign or my "Fund T/MI" campaign will  help me continue to share this vision for another year. 

Please keep reading my articles and share them with others. Ultimately this will reach someone who wants to champion this vision with their wealth and their leadership.