Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love." Full text

Mentoring young people is a way to be great. It is a way to create miracles for our children and ourselves. The miracles of mentoring are tangible. Mentees develop respect for themselves and their mentors. They begin to consider higher education, set positive lifelong goals, and uncover their spirituality.

Mentoring programs work. A study of the Big Brothers/Big Sisters national mentoring program found that young people who met with a mentor three times a month for one year were 46 percent less likely to begin using illegal drugs, 52 percent less likely to skip school, and 33 percent less likely to get in fights. Students with mentors were shown to have greater confidence in their performance at school and better relations with their families.

In another study, Proctor & Gamble looked at its mentoring programs in the Cincinnati school system and found that the participating young people were more likely to stay in school, achieve and aspire to better grades, and pursue a higher education. Before the mentoring programs, only 25 to 30 percent of students continued their educations after high school; after mentoring, 86 percent of the senior classes went to college.

Your organization can make a real difference in your community by setting up a mentoring program. A mentoring program expands an organization's role in the community. It also increases an organization's value to the community. IPPS is a mentoring program provider. We can help you develop a mentoring program for your organization.