RAISE YOUR HAND and Help Children Succeed by Donating Your Time, Talents and Schools Supplies

An alarming 61% of our public school system students are economically disadvantaged. They need extra help and we are asking people to raise their hands to support children and youth by donating time and/or school supplies. There are several organizations in need of supplies: the Children and Network Centers, Carpenter's Shelter, and ACPS are asking the public to donate items.

Alexandria Mentoring Partnership (AMP) and its 16 partner programs collectively serve over 1,000 youth from grades K-12 throughout the City of Alexandria. Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) serves more than 15,000 students who hail from approximately 100 countries and speak 121 languages.

Research has found that mentored youth are 55% less likely to skip school and 55% more likely to get better grades and go to college. They are 46% less likely to use illegal drugs and 53% more likely to have good mental health. They are less likely to become court-involved, and 90% more likely to become mentors themselves.  

Alexandria’s City Council and Children, Youth and Family Collaborative Commission, along with Alexandria Public Schools, identified the need for youth to have additional social and emotional services outside of school hours and additional non-parent adult role models. In response to these needs, AMP was developed and utilizes the nationally recognized Search Institute’s Developmental Assets Framework to protect and promote thriving youth. Highly motivating and interactive trainings, such as Developmental Assets: The Power of One, The Power of Many, and resources, such as the National Mentoring Partnership’s Elements of Effective Practice in Mentoring, are regularly used by AMP partner programs to provide support in exploring and understanding how caring adults can best meet the needs of our youth. 

 “I’m thankful for my mentor because she is so nice and really sweet. Bethany makes me feel a lot of feels but my top three are safe, loved, and cared for! Bethany is a really nice person and she helps me get out of my comfort zone. She cares for everyone around her. She holds all my secrets.” - Jenesis 

Volunteer Opportunities

Here are some more benefits of mentoring and tutoring for the child (and the adult):

  • Teaching children to read has multiple benefits and is the key to your child's academic future, according to Teach Reading Early, because reading is at the heart of all formal education. Some of the many advantages of developing early reading ability are neurological, educational, psychological, social and linguistic.

  • In addition to helping youth maintain a better attitude toward school, we know that mentoring has a positive impact on school attendance and continuing on towards higher education (The Role of Risk, 2013). Students who meet regularly with their mentors are 52% less likely than their peers to skip a day of school and 37% less likely to skip a class. (Public/Private Ventures Study of Big Brothers Big Sisters).

  • Youth with a mentor are 46% less likely than their peers to start using illegal drugs and 27% less likely to start drinking (Public/Private Ventures study of Big Brothers Big Sisters). Consistently across different risk groups, mentoring showed a reduction in depressive symptoms and promotes positive social attitudes and relationships. Mentored youth tend to trust their parents more and communicate better with them (The Role of Risk, 2013).

  • A mentor’s impact doesn’t stop at their particular mentee. By engaging with youth in their community, mentors also spread community engagement further, as youth with a mentor are 78% more likely to volunteer regularly and are 90% more likely to be a mentor in the future (Mentor).