World of Good Blogburst, Mentoring Style

Welcome to another World of Good Blogburst here at The Scratching Post. Each week we highlight acts of kindness in the hopes of encouraging more. We believe that good deeds are contagious.

The statistics regarding single parent families are staggering.

*Among long-term prison inmates, 70 percent grew up without fathers, as did 60 percent of rapists and 75 percent of adolescents charged with murder.

* Fatherless children are three times more likely to fail school, require psychiatric treatment and commit suicide as adolescents.

*They are also up to 40 times more likely to experience child abuse compared with children growing up in two-parent families.

Once the car has gone over the cliff, who is there to help pick up the pieces? One group of people who are doing something about it is Long Island Youth Mentoring (LIYM). LIYM volunteers provide full-spectrum mentoring for at-risk youth. They help these children improve in school and grow as responsible citizens. They specialize in matching volunteers with children. The volunteers time each week with their child helping them with schoolwork, sports and socialization.

Children growing up in very difficult circumstances need to experience love that is expressed over time. Our mentors spend 2-4 hours with these children each week. The consistency of this commitment speaks loudly. It says, "You are valuable. What you think about and the things that bother you are important."

LIYM also has a mother’s ministry in which they give assistance to single mothers who need time, counsel and support. They also have a jail ministry that seeks to help youth who are incarcerated break the cycle of crime and self-destruction.

A vast majority of the children in the One-to-One program of Long Island Youth Mentoring come from single-parent homes and are being raised by their mothers or grandmothers. It is our belief that oftentimes if we want to effectively minister to troubled families, we need to reach not only the children, but their mothers as well.

Lastly, LIYM has a pen pal ministry wherein you can give some aid and comfort if you can’t be there. It allows you to interact with these children and show them that someone cares even though time and distance prevent you from being physically present.

The sad truth is that many kids stay on the waiting list (for a mentor) until they 'age out'. This ministry is a great blessing to many who have asked for a mentor but would otherwise not receive one.

Hollywood and TV show you the pleasures and freedom of a libertine lifestyle. It’s up to people like those in Long Beach Youth Mentoring to clean up the mess that gets left behind.

Photos used without permission. That is, they will be used without permission as soon as Blogger stops fighting me when I try to upload them!

Be sure to visit A Tic in the Mind's Eye for his WOG post, too!

--------------------------------------------

Bloggers who link to our WOG posts get to join the WOG Squad. Membership in the WOG Squad has many mysterious benefits, including cures for halitosis and the ability to transfer millions of dollars of Nigerian money into your bank account! We also offer attractive blog link incentives. Feel free to drop us an email if you'd like to join. Operators are standing by!

Previous WOGs at The Scratching Post:

WOG, Navy Style
WOG, Aussie Style
WOG, Katrina Style
WOG, Hospice Style
WOG, Boy Scout Style
WOG, MS Style
WOG, Amy Hawkins Style
WOG, Chiapas Style
WOG, Special Olympics Style
WOG, Hats for Cancer Style
WOG, Love on a Leash Style
WOG, Recovery Style

Technorati tags: charity long island youth ministry mentoring