January - the most important meal of the day.


Yes, just as a nutritious breakfast fortifies mind and body for the tasks of the day, a January spent wisely fortifies your outlook on the coming year. Right?

Consider - January is National Hot Tea Month and National Oatmeal Month. Smells like breakfast to us.

January is also National Blood Donor Month (to fortify those blood supplies for another year's worth of injuries) and National Braille Literacy Month.

Even lesser known than these other official designations, January is National Mentoring Month. Mentoring, which tends to invoke warm-weather images of mentor/mentee pickup basketball games and graduation ceremonies, is a serious committment. It's really no wonder that the month of New Year's Resolutions (and Oatmeal) is National Mentoring Month - it's an opportunity to look at the coming year and resolve to make a difference in someone else's life by becoming a major part of it.

Here in the Twin Cities there are tons of ways to be a mentor. Numerous mentoring organizations exist to serve the needs of specific issues or places. You've probably heard of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities, one of the oldest and most well-known mentoring organizations. They have a number of mentoring programs including school-based, community-based, and a mentoring program for the children of incarcerated parents.

But have you heard of Kinship of Greater Minneapolis, a faith-based mentoring program serving Hennepin and Anoka counties? Kinship matches individuals, couples, and families with youth ages 5-15 in need of extra guidance. Kids 'n Kinship serves the Dakota county area. Both are members of Kinship, Inc., a national network based right around the corner in Burnsville, Minnesota.

Did you know that the Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches operates a mentoring program for Hennepin County youth on probation?

And it's not just about youth! Third Way Network provides mentors for families as they try to achieve independence and financial self-sufficiency. AMICUS of Minneapolis uses a mentoring program to help ex-offenders make the difficult transition back to living in the community.

There are more, but if we took the time to list them all you'd probably stop reading. The Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota is a great way to find out about the different mentoring programs near you.

So - you, there. With all of the life experience. Always dishing out advice. There are thousands of kids out there who could really use that advice and experience. Mentoring is one of the most challenging ways to volunteer your time, but it can have the most profound and lasting results. Are you up for it?