When you were a teenager, did you have a mentor in your life? If your answer is yes, you should count yourself blessed. If you did not have a mentor, you are not alone. Many students did not have another caring adult from their community walk beside them when they were growing up, and most adults were so busy raising their own children that they did not have time to focus on another student’s needs. But the truth is, we all need to know that someone cares. That is why we have Mt. Vernon Cares, a mentoring program at MVISD.
Many members of our wonderful community wanted to help students grow strong roots in our community, so we began a program 11 years ago that is growing stronger each year. Mt. Vernon Cares was formed in 2015 to provide community mentors and food vouchers to high school students. We identified a need, and our community, with God’s help, came together to make it happen. We realized that there are students who might just need a little more encouragement to succeed and graduate. Our mission was to enrich, educate, and encourage each student who wanted to be a part of Mt. Vernon Cares.
Our community mentors support their mentees by showing up each week to eat a meal together and provide a listening ear. We have seen over 500 students graduate and feel loved because someone cared enough to spend quality time with them. I am grateful for each member of our community who has mentored one of our students. Many of our mentors have been able to mentor their students throughout their high school careers, seeing them graduate and go on to be successful.
You can see and hear the love in the high school lecture hall where mentoring happens each week. It is so heartwarming to see smiles and hear laughter each Wednesday!
If you are interested in mentoring a student or would like to know how you can support us financially, I would love to tell you more about Mt. Vernon Cares. Please email me at Jilllowry65@gmail.com.
