ABOVE: Some submitted letters that share community members’ mentoring experiences. Kinship of Martin County is currently seeking other letters, which will be displayed next month at the Red Rock Center for the Arts in Fairmont.

FAIRMONT– Kinship of Martin County is looking for people to share their personal mentoring stories. The written stories will be part of a gallery show at the Red Rock Center for the Arts in January.

This is just the second time Kinship has organized mentoring stories to be on display at the Red Rock. The first time was in September of 2021. Kinship’s executive director, Jen Kahler, said they had planned to do it again this past fall but the gallery was booked up until now.

“It works pretty well because January is National Mentoring Month. We’re doing everything in conjunction with each other,” Kahler said.

The purpose of the display is to show people’s different mentoring stories. While Kinship does formal mentoring in Martin County, Kahler said the reality is mentoring happens informally in many situations.

“This is a chance to celebrate the work that Kinship does but also celebrate the fact that mentors exist all over our community and acknowledge the benefit it is for people to have someone they consider a mentor,” Kahler said.

The plan is for the show to be put up sometime in the first week of January. Until then, Kahler said they’re looking for people to share their own mentoring stories.

“Some of them will be people who are mentors for us already, which I thought would be fun to illustrate the fact that some people probably chose to be mentors because they had somebody in their lives who had such a significant influence on them that they wanted to pass that on to somebody else,” Kahler explained.

She thought it would be nice to open it up to the community so that everyone has the opportunity to share their own mentoring stories.

“Last time it was fun for me to learn that people who I had known for a while had a mentoring story that I didn’t know about,” Kahler said.

Kinship is looking for letters, preferably handwritten, of mentoring stories to display. The 2021 show had nearly 30 letters on display. This time around, Kahler hopes they receive so many that they have a hard time finding the space to display them all.

Along with the letters, photos are encouraged if people have them. Kahler said she believes that photos help make the stories more personal.

The stories can be dropped off the the Kinship house at 206 W. 3rd St. in Fairmont. Kahler suggested people call her first at 507-320-9377 to set up a time.

The show will be on display until Feb. 10. The gallery is open every Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

As the show coincides with National Mentoring Month, Kinship is planning on having its annual mentor appreciation event on Wednesday, Jan 18. from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Red Rock Center.

“It’s been a few years since we’ve done it in person, but it’s a chance to thank our mentors for the work they do with the youth in our community,” Kahler said.

She said over the years the event has looked different but this year there will be a light meal and people will have the opportunity to share what mentoring means to them. Several mentees will be there to help with the event. All mentors are invited to the event and Kinship currently has about 50 spread across the county.

In addition to the show and appreciation event, Kahler shared that they’re planning an event during the Vikings game on Jan. 8 at Bowl Mor Lanes in Fairmont.

“We’re inviting anyone who wants to watch the game and have some free pizza and learn a little more about Kinship,” Kahler said.

At that time they’ll have quite a bit of information available about mentoring and Kinship. Kahler asked that people reach out to sign up ahead of time. If anyone is interested they can send an email to kinship@kinshipofmartincounty.com