News & Events
Unprecedented Number of Mentors Recruited
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| See the event photo gallery in the Florida Times-Union |
On the First Coast, United Way of Northeast Florida joined with the City of Jacksonville, the Jacksonville Children’s Commission, Duval County Public Schools and the Mentor First Coast Task Force, to launch this community recruitment drive to expand the network of volunteer mentors in schools in Clay, Duval and Nassau counties. Together with corporate partners, community and faith-based organizations, volunteers and government agencies, United Way is committed to improving the high school graduation rate in this community.
“On May 14, United Way and its community partners announced our commitment to recruit more mentors for our public school students,” said Connie Hodges, president and CEO of United Way of Northeast Florida. “As of June 21, we have already recruited more than 800 new mentors ensuring that the total number for the coming academic year will far exceed 1,000.”
The high school drop out rate is at a critical level in Northeast Florida, and in response to the call for mentors, First Coast residents have mobilized to ensure better outcomes for area youth. With a current mentor network of 1,727, the number of mentors has increased by roughly 50 percent as a result of the recruitment drive.
Mentored students are 52 percent less likely to skip school, 46 percent less likely to become involved with drugs and 27 percent less likely to use alcohol. Research shows that one caring adult can have a positive, lasting impact in the life of a struggling student and can lead to improvements in attendance, behavior and academic performance in a relatively short period of time.
“We are so proud of our longstanding relationships with corporate, business and community partners that have allowed us to rally together and achieve this incredible feat,” said Hodges. “This is a giant step for Jacksonville and our surrounding communities as we work to keep students in school and on track for graduation. We are very excited to see how quickly our community rallied together in just six weeks.”
Local Day of Action festivities also included a community rally and festival at Hemming Plaza with food, entertainment and family-friendly activities. More than 1,000 families and children attended the event. In addition to June 21 sessions held in Jacksonville, training for new mentors took place at the Peck Center in Fernandina Beach and the Barco-Newton YMCA in Fleming Island.
Recruitment and registration for new mentors will continue through August 15. To learn more about United Way’s Day of Action and mentor recruitment, contact Coretta Hill at 390-3200 or visit www.aboutunitedway.org/mentor.
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