Mentoring one or two hours a week can mean the world to a child in need

By LOIS KINDLE

Lois Kindle Photo
Holly and Ed Jamison, of Valencia Lakes, and Kathy Straub of Sun City Center, all know the benefits of mentoring children. It helps them stay active and engaged in a meaningful activity that makes a real difference in the life of a child in need.

Have you ever thought about volunteering some time to help children get a head start on learning?

Thanks to a partnership between several area nonprofits, you can get all the information you need, and get all your questions answered in either of two free programs this month in Sun City Center.  

Four youth-serving, nonprofit organizations could benefit: The PCAT Family Ministry Program, Wimauma Boys & Girls Club, Hope Fund and Big Brothers Big Sisters Tampa Bay.

Sun City Center Connects, Seniors in Service and Encore Tampa Bay will present Become a Mentor! from 3 to 5:15 Sept. 13 at the United Community Church of SCC, 1210 Del Webb Blvd. W., and from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 14 in the Florida Room at the SCC Community Association Atrium, 1009 N. Pebble Beach Blvd.         

The first event includes the movie Spare Parts, the true story of four underprivileged youngsters from Phoenix who, with adult mentoring, compete against students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in a national underwater robotics contest. The film will be followed by discussion and Q & A. Popcorn, candy and soda are provided.

The second program includes a luncheon, small clips on mentoring and a discussion and Q & A. Both programs are designed to get you inspired and out of the house for as little as an hour per week.

“Our focus is on recruiting seniors to work with children to improve their lives,” said Bevan Rogel, president of Encore Tampa Bay. “These movies (and clips) depict mentoring of a young person by an older individual and how each benefit from the experience.”

Kathy Straub, of Sun City Center, fully understands this. She has tutored 6-year-old Ruskin Elementary School first-graders the past two years for the PCAT Family Ministry Program.

“I enjoy working one-on-one with an adorable, at-risk child with a low reading level,” she said. “You go every week, sit down with the same child, do the lessons provided and develop a real relationship. That is just so cool.

“At the end of the year, the child moves on with a significantly improved reading level, but you get a new one to fall in love with when school starts again. One or two hours a week can make such a difference in a child’s life.”

Holly and Ed Jamison, of Valencia Lakes, have similar feelings.

They volunteer as after-school tutors for the Wimauma Boys & Girls Club. They enjoyed working with the kids in grades one to six so much, they’ve decided to volunteer again this fall.

“You move from child to child, where your help is most needed,” Holly said. “You help with homework and walk or run with the children in the (club’s) Just Run program.

“What I enjoy most is to see a little guy struggling with math, and then learning to do problems first with fingers and crayons,” she said. “Once the concept is realized, we move on to equations where they can apply what they learned.

“We also read to the children,” she said.

Her husband agrees.  

“We like working with the kids and watching the bulb go off,” he said. “We enjoyed it so much, we’ve now decided to go from one afternoon (of tutoring) to two.”

Anyone interested in volunteering can email srosenbaum@seniorsinservice.org or call Sarah at Seniors in Service at 813-932-5228, Ext. 292. She can help define your interests and match them with the perfect organization needing help.