A way everyone can help local youth

All children need mentors and role models, but too often they're finding them on television or in less desirable places.

The worst outcome from that lack of guidance appears in the youth crime reports in the Appeal nearly every day. Some of those children come from broken homes, where they have no one to teach them right from wrong. It's left to law enforcement to deal with the outcome, but usually there's little more they can do other than make arrests. Mentors have the power to break the cycle.

But it's not just about kids who have the potential to get in trouble. Every child should have a mentor, whether it's a parent or someone else willing to take a genuine interest.

That's where The Mentor Center of Western Nevada comes in. The center is a program of the Boys and Girls Club and gets funding from several sources, including the city and WNCC. It pairs its volunteers with children who need to know that someone cares about them and what they do.

The program serves children of all sorts, but primarily those from single-parent families. They are matched with adults who have the same interests. The center has 53 such matches, and 24 children on a waiting list. They need volunteers just like you, someone the children can talk to and learn to trust.

You need only be an adult willing to give your time to helping children.

It just so happens that Carson City has hundreds of seniors who would make perfect mentors. Many have retired from demanding jobs, and have raised children who they've steered through many crises on the way to successful lives.

What an asset to this community those seniors can be if they choose to become mentors, whether it's through formal programs such as the Mentor Center, or by taking a child from the neighborhood under their wing.

People interested in becoming mentors should contact Bill Bley or Ruth Gordon at 445-3346.