Every day in communities across the country, our neighbors are volunteering their time with quality mentoring programs to be a consistent, supportive and guiding hand to our young people. At its most basic level, mentoring works because it guarantees a young person that there is an adult who cares about them and that they are not alone in dealing with day-to-day challenges. At a more complex level, there is a powerful mentoring effect that ultimately makes our community stronger. As a community, we must commit to not leaving these powerful relationships to chance.

In a recent national report, “The Mentoring Effect,” young people who were at-risk for not completing high school but who had a mentor were 55 percent more likely to be enrolled in college than those who did not have a mentor. They were also 81 percent more likely to report participating regularly in sports or extracurricular activities, 78 percent more likely to volunteer regularly in their communities and more than twice as likely to say they held a leadership position in a club or sports team. This same report found that one in three young people in our country will grow up without a mentor.

One of the best things about our small Durango community is our commitment to each other. We step up to help in a crisis. Please step up now to help Big Brothers Big Sisters serve the 20 children who are currently waiting for someone to show them they matter.

Justin Tafoya, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Colorado

Durango