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Youth mentoring: the motivation of volunteering and the validity of the volunteer function inventory

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  Teye, AC,  Peaslee, L. (2020). Why mentor? A validation study of the volunteer functions inventory for use in youth mentoring. Journal of Community Psychology, 1– 19. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22326 Summarized by Ariel Ervin Notes of Interest:  Examines the validity of the Volunteer Functions Inventory, as well as the functional motivations of youth mentoring program volunteers  473 participants/mentors were […]

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Today’s special: Friendship, with a side of purpose and direction

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Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction. John F. Kennedy by Jean Rhodes Although most youth interventions are developed in response to particular needs or goals, mentoring programs were conceived more broadly as an extension of informal helping relationships. For nearly a century, most volunteer mentors were tasked simply with building friendships […]

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Senior volunteers ward off brain ‘shrinkage’

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By Stephanie Desmon The memory center in the brains of seniors who volunteered in public schools for two years maintained their size, rather than shrinking as part of the normal aging process, report researchers. The findings suggest that retirees who take part in meaningful social activity can prevent shrinkage in their brains’ memory centers and avert age-related […]

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Volunteering in public schools boosts seniors’ memories

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The memory center in the brains of seniors who volunteered in public schools for two years maintained their size, rather than shrinking as part of the normal aging process, report researchers. The findings suggest that retirees who take part in meaningful social activity can prevent shrinkage in their brains’ memory centers and avert age-related cognitive problems. In […]

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Mentoring outside city limits: New Rural Mentoring Toolkit produced by MANY

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There is one universal truth for all youth, anywhere—and that is that any young person can benefit from a mentoring relationship. Whether your community is urban, ex-urban, suburban, or rural, the youth in your schools and neighborhoods could use a strong, positive role model. Likewise, each type of community comes with its own strengths and […]

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Mentor Expert

UK’s Children’s Commission releases new report on youth mentoring

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by Anne Longfield The recent tragic murders in London have again brought home how urgently we need to do more to stop young people joining gangs and becoming involved in violent crime. The drugs trade is absolutely ruthless. It grooms children, uses them and then discards them. The police have told me that the level […]

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Can mentoring create better citizens: These findings suggest so!

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Editor’s note: For years, scholars have argued that one of the benefits of serving as a mentor is that it awakens the adult to the problems facing today’s youth. Many of us have seen the potential benefits of connecting middle-class voters with at-risk youth. Mentoring provides a lens through which  middle-class adults can see the ravages […]

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What we can learn from a “glittering ounce” of good news

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“Good news is rare these days, and every glittering ounce of it should be cherished and hoarded and worshiped and fondled like a priceless diamond.” -Hunter S. Thompson by Jean Rhodes Let us take a moment to recognize an extraordinary mentoring program that recently produced remarkably promising findings. The Arches Transformative Mentoring program has delivered […]

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Mentoring around the country: Hundreds answer the call for mentoring event

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Written by Joi-Marie McKenzie, ABC News   One Dallas community truly rallied around a school in need of volunteers. More than 600 men showed up for Billy Earl Dade Middle School’s “Breakfast with Dads” event, where students are encouraged to bring their fathers, or father figures in their lives, for breakfast. “It’s a way to […]

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New study shows why disabled veterans should volunteer at nonprofits

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Posted by Jessica Martin-WUSTL on August 18, 2011 Disabled veterans who continue to give back on a volunteer basis improve their employment prospects, further their education, and become better role models for their children. Through the Mission Continues fellowship program, a national nonprofit organization, returning veterans receive a stipend to serve as a volunteer at […]

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