What began as their typical quarter challenge, ended with
lessons learned and a deeper meaning of the word give.
The Elbert County Mentoring program began their challenge three
weeks ago with the theme giving. The purpose of the challenge was
to teach the kids about giving while becoming involved in their
communities.
The first week of the challenge began with each child working in
pairs with their mentor in the act gratitude and kindness portion
of the challenge. The pairs made treats and gave a plant or care
basket to a local agency in the county as a thank you to the
agencies that give back to the county every day. Sher Bush,
director of the mentoring program, said the agencies were shocked
that the program thought of them.
“We went to the police departments in the county, the Sheriff’s
Office and the fire departments, social services, Centennial Mental
Health and Victim’s Assistance,” she said. “Everyone was so happy
to see the kids and the get the recognition.”
The second week of the challenge, the kids and the mentors split
into small groups and volunteered at local non-profit organizations
in Elbert County. Bush said even though some of the kids were
hesitant at the beginning to get involved with volunteering, they
ended up not only learning about other organizations that help
people, but they enjoyed their time spent volunteering.
“Some kids volunteered at the Gabriel Foundation or Elbet County
Ocalition for Outreach community garden while some did a book drive
and danoted the books to the librbary district,” she said. “So we
had a variety of volunteering among the kids. We even helped a
couple of families in need who are going through a rough time.
Through out the entire three week period, the kids worked on
collecting food for one of the local food banks in Elizabeth. Bush
sadi the kids came up with their own ways to collect the food. She
said some went door-to-door asking for food donatiosn and some used
their allowance money to buy food.
The challenge finale was taking all the food gathered and
filling up the food bank at Harvest Bible Church in Elizabeth. Bush
said the mentoring program has never done a challenge like this one
before and can not be happier with the outcome, not only with the
amount of food gathered, but the change in the kids overall.
“I saw different kids at the end of the challenge. They grew so
much over the three weeks,” she said. “At the beginning their
motivation wasn’t too strong, but they learned it’s really fun to
give, and they worked their butts off along the way.”
Not only did the kids learn how important it is give back to the
community, but also how important it is to recognize the non-profit
organizations in the county and they agencies dedicated to helping
people.
“Elbert County is a wonderful rural community and we hope people
will see what we’ve done and be inspired to use their life for a
greater good,” she said. “All it takes is a few hours a week or a
few hours a month in some cases, or a financial donation to some of
these organizations to make a really big difference to the
community.”
Bush said the mentoring program is in need of mentors more than
ever. At this point she needs ten to 15 mentors to adequately
provide services to the program. She said as a mentor people can
learn so much about themselves, while being a steady support system
for a child in need.
Having a mentor helps the kids with their confidence,
self-esteem, belief in themselves and opens them up to new worlds
and opportunities they wouldn’t have otherwise,” Bush said. “And
all it takes is a few dedicated hours a week. All of the kids in
our program grow and blossom into their best selves.”
For more information or to become a mentor call 303-621-3215 or
visit http://elbertcountymentoring.org.
