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4/1/2005 4:00 PM"…If you want to serve America, become a mentor." That was the challenge President Bush issued to Americans this morning following a round-table discussion on the Administration’s new Helping America’s Youth Initiative, which the First Lady is leading and which encourages faith-based and community-based organizations to provide alternatives to gangs. Held at Paul Public Charter School in Washington, DC, the event brought the President and Mrs. Bush face-to-face with several mentor/mentee pairs to discuss how mentoring has positively affected the young peoples’ lives and how it can enhance the lives of all children, especially children of prisoners. In support of the new White House initiative, MENTOR has scheduled an online community forum to continue the discussion on the initiative and on faith-based mentoring and mentoring of children of prisoners. MENTOR invites all interested individuals to join in the online forum, which will take place on April 6-7, 2005 at Mentoring.org/community. Speaking to the media after today’s event, Mrs. Bush said that she and the President had "…just had a great meeting with some boys and girls and their mentors, people who exemplify the new initiative called Helping America’s Youth. Helping America’s Youth highlights the importance in every child’s life of a loving, caring adult…" The President then introduced four mentors and their mentees who were part of the round-table discussion: Stacey French who has been mentoring seventh-grader Lexus Henderson for two and a half years through the Higher Achievement Program; Jennifer Kalenborn, a mentor with Kinship of Greater Minneapolis, and her mentee, Michaela Huberty; Jillian Antonucci, who is mentoring Brianna Morris through the Prison Fellowship’s Angel Tree Program; and Deacon Vinnie Thomas, who is a Big Brother to Parry Elliott through Big Brothers Big Sisters of the National Capital Area. The President thanked each mentor, whom he referred to as "…the armies of compassion, people who are willing to take time out of their too-busy lives to help save a life…" For more on this event, visit www.whitehouse.gov. | |||
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