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For the 11th year, the President has declared January as National Mentoring Month. President Obama issued a proclamation on January 3, beginning "Every day, mentors help young Americans face the challenges of growing into adulthood. By setting a positive example and sharing their time, knowledge, and experience, mentors play an essential role in preparing our Nation's youth for a bright future."

Despite all the benefits of youth mentoring, the President went on to note that only about three million children in the United States have mentors; a fraction of the 15 million in need of "a caring adult mentor in their lives."

In honor of National Mentoring Month, Mobius Mentors, a Chittenden County youth mentoring advocacy organization, holds an annual Thank Your Mentor Breakfast. This year's presenters included Senator Patrick Leahy, and Burlington Chief of Police Michael Schirling. Molly Mulcahy and Amer Avdagic, both mentors from our Elm St. program, were among the volunteers recognized throughout the morning as Molly received an Honored Mentor award and addressed the crowd with her mentee, Noah.

DREAM would like to thank Mobius for putting on this special event, and to Senator Leahy, Michael Schirling, and anybody who supports youth mentoring during National Mentoring Month.

For the second year running, DREAM has been selected to be one of the twelve organizations sponsored by Boloco’s 12 Days of Giving campaign. Members of DREAM’s Central Office will be on hand at the Boloco restaurant on Church Street in Burlington on Wednesday, December 21 from 12-3pm to hand out information and answer questions. During the campaign, sponsored organizations are featured for one day, and receive 50 cents from each burrito, salad, wrap, or bowl sold on that day.

Boloco, whose tagline is Inspired Burritos, is a Boston-based restaurant chain with a strong social conscience. DREAM has partnered with Boloco several times in the past for donations of their healthy wraps and delicious burritos.

Learn more about Boloco by vising www.boloco.com, and be sure to check out DREAM on Wednesday, December 21!

The crowd of over 60 that gathered in the beautiful West Monitor Barn in Richmond, Vt. set the scene for a very memorable evening. The made-to-order, crackling fresh crepes were a nice addition, as were the hot drinks on the seasonably chilly mid-November evening.

But the thing that truly stood out from the “Dessert Before Dinner” celebration were the feelings of excitement and warmth generated by giving to a wonderful cause.

DREAM has always had a unique ability to bring out the energy and enthusiasm of people of a variety of ages. In most cases, this is to prepare them to lead groups of children in games or adventures. In the event of DREAM’s 10-Year Anniversary, the focus was on what the program had accomplished and the lives it had touched in its first decade as a non-profit.

Reading from a letter by Ashley Seymour, a former mentee now in her junior year at Lyndon State College, DREAM co-founder Mike Foote intimated “DREAM picked me up and taught me the most important lesson of my life so far: it is perfectly okay to be yourself.”

DREAM would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Cailie Burns and the staff of VYCC for their gracious donation of the West Monitor Barn space, to Connor Garvey for his gift of music, to The Skinny Pancake for cutting us a great deal on catering, to Ben & Jerry’s for their delicious ice cream, and to all the guests of “Dessert Before Dinner” for helping DREAM drive its mission.

In Ashley’s words, “on the hard days, the days you wake up achy and feeling exhausted… know for a fact that to even one kid like me, it counts for everything.”

Check out photos from our event on our Photo page!

Dear DREAMers,

It is with great excitement that I am writing you all to share that on November 4th, I will be leaving the DREAM Office to pursue a new adventure with the Brookline-based Massachusetts Association for the Blind. While the decision to leave my post as Resource Development Director did not come easily, it is an adventure that I will embark upon with great gusto having spent seven inspirational years surrounded by DREAM’s energy, vibe, and all of you!

Since I was first introduced to DREAM in 2004, I have had the privilege of working with some of the most amazing college students and youth. I’ve seen what is possible when college students realize that they have the ability to create massive social change, and I have seen what is possible when a child realizes that they have the support to dream big and the ability to set the bar for what they believe is possible in their lives.

Together, we’ve traveled on buses, trains, ferries and planes! We’ve picked apples, cranberries, snowball fights and noses! We’ve climbed rock walls and mountains (literally and figuratively)! We’ve caught footballs, baseballs, Frisbees, and colds! We’ve attended Red Sox and Celtics games, community barbecues and youth sporting events! We’ve laughed and we’ve cried, we’ve smiled and we’ve frowned. We’ve done all of this, and so much more in the name of social change, community engagement, and fun!

So, here are some words of wisdom as I depart: Over the last seven years I have worn many hats within DREAM, and realized something truly amazing. DREAM can be whatever you make it! DREAM is yours. It always has been and it always will be, so challenge it and let it challenge you! DREAM big, DREAM well, but most importantly DREAM often. Take advantage of all the amazing opportunities that come your way, because you’ve earned them! Smile, laugh, high-five, and hug.

Saying goodbye is never an easy task, so I’ll see you later alligators! I’ll never be more than an email or a phone call away, so don’t be a stranger, just reach out to the folks in the DREAM Office and they’ll know how to reach me!

DREAM big,
Josh

Mobius, a non-profit organization working to increase the number of high-quality, adult-to-youth mentoring relationships in Chittenden County, VT, recently announced the launch of their 2011-2012 Mentor Discount Card. The card provides mentor pairs located in Chittenden County access to exciting and engaging activities at over 40 local businesses.

UVM DREAM mentor, Matt Matuszewski, and his mentee, Matt, were featured in The Other Paper's article which introduced Mobius' 2011-2012 Mentor Discount Card. To view the full article, please visit http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/launch.aspx?referral=other&pnum=&refresh=tJ05W18fm3F1&EID=eeb168e7-beb5-4883-8c73-848380912a28&skip= (Full Story Available on Page 9)

OCTOBER 6, 2011 – Some mentors came to fine-tune their mentoring skills. Others came dressed in “flandex,” ready to play Knockout and make new friends. In all, about 60 mentors, office staff, Alumni and special guests all descended on Burlington’s King Street Center last weekend for DREAM’s 8th Annual DREAMstock mentoring conference. Despite the cool, wet fall weather, mentors from nine different Local Programs and seven colleges and universities in Vermont and Greater Boston turned up. Among the topics they covered during the overnight conference were Child and Teen Trajectory, DREAM Philosophies, Child Management, and Programming with a Purpose.

Learning and fun at DREAMstock were synonymous. In keeping with the theme The Looking Glass, Alice, the White Rabbit, and the Queen of Hearts kept the conference on schedule while the Mad Hatter, the Caterpillar, and several other Carroll characters led the mentors in games, facilitated discussions and activities. The program kicked off on Saturday morning with a massive ice breaker Un-birthday Party. It concluded with an outstanding acoustic performance from Portland, Maine-based artist Connor Garvey. Speaking of the DREAMstock sessions on the whole, one Boston University mentor quoted “…super helpful – I don’t think I would change anything.”

Many thanks to King Street Center for sharing your space with DREAM!