University of New England

UNE Community Mentoring Program participates in National Mentoring Month

The University of New England College Community Mentoring Program (CCMP) is participating in National Mentoring Month 2006, a month-long campaign dedicated to recruiting caring adult mentors for America's youth.

Research has shown that programs that rely on volunteer mentors can play a powerful role in reducing drug abuse and youth violence, while greatly enhancing a young person's prospects for leading a healthy and productive life.

The UNE College Community Mentoring Program is dedicated to recruiting UNE student mentors for the youth of Biddeford, Saco, Kennebunkport, Kennebunk, and Portland. UNE mentors participate in various types of mentoring, from one-on-one mentoring matches to small-group mentoring, at 10 in-school and after-school sites. Since its inception in 2002, UNE’s College Community Mentoring Program has provided UNE students as mentors to more than 300 local children and youth at ten sites.

In February, 2005, UNE’s CCMP received states funds as a subgrantee with Maine Communities for Children and Youth through a Maine Justice Assistance Council Prevention Grant. UNE is one of four colleges in Maine participating in this grant.

The UNE College Community Mentoring Program is a member of the York County Mentoring Partnership and is taking part in this month’s Mentoring Summit to be held on January 31, 2006, in Wells. 

The Harvard Mentoring Project and MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership are leading the NMM 2005 effort, which aims to raise awareness of the various forms of mentoring, recruit individuals in the community to mentor and promote the rapid growth of mentoring in our community and across the nation.

National Mentoring Month 2006 is a collaborative, public-private initiative sponsored by nonprofit organizations, media companies and government agencies. National media partners include ABC (Disney), CBS (Viacom), Fox (News Corp.), NBC (GE), and several divisions of AOL Time Warner.

For additional information on National Mentoring Month, or to become a mentor, please call 1-888-432-MENTOR or visit http://www.mentoring.org/. To learn about UNE’s College Community Mentoring Program, visit the program website at www.une.edu/ccmp.

(Press release issued Jan. 23, 2006)