To the Editor:

Martin County Mentoring Network would like to thank all of the individuals and businesses that have contributed to our organization during the second quarter of 2015. So far this year, these charitable companies/organizations have provided youth with several activities that allowed them to get out and experience some memorable moments.

Thank you to Federated Rural Electric for its financial support through its “Round Up” program. FRE has provided money for our mentoring organization to host two hand-crafted jewelry-making parties in which the kids experience working with tools and using their imagination to form a personal piece of jewelry.

The Knights of Columbus held its annual live auction in May and, as they have done for many years, provided a portion of the proceeds to the Mentoring Network. So far the funds have been utilized for the recruitment of new mentors and funded our annual mentor/mentee picnic for the 28th of this month.

The Martin County Youth Foundation continues to be a great support to our organization and has given us a grant for mentor recruitment, training, youth scholarships and activities. A portion of these funds will be used to fund a family picnic day in July for the youth and families within our organization.

Thanks also for grant donations from Walmart, Great River Energy and Alliant Energy, as all of these companies continue to play a large role in the promotion of healthy youth within Martin County.

Last, but not least, to local businesses for participating in our “Give Back” program: Jake’s Pizza, Perkins, Arby’s, McDonald’s, Subway, Hy-Vee, Bowlmor, Cutting Edge Fitness, Fairmont Aquatic Park and Anytime Fitness.

Mentoring continues to be a prized initiative across the United States and we are fortunate to have so many people invested in the success of our organization to provide these services. We look forward to our continued relationships with these companies and on behalf of the children within our network … Thank you.

Shawn Chambers,

program coordinator

Martin County Mentoring Network