Brother (Or Sister), Can You Spare Some Time?

We know that silence equals consent when atrocities are committed against innocent men, women and children. We know that indifference equals complicity when bigotry, hatred and intolerance are allowed to take root. And we know that education and hope are the most effective ways to combat ignorance and despair.

 

--U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords  

Speaking of education and hope (with emphasis on the hope part), if you should want to do something for a kid like be a mentor or be there for them, here are some links:

• YouthFriends: http://www.youthfriends.org/ (Missouri & Kansas)
• The National Mentoring Partnership: http://www.mentoring.org/ (Go there, scroll down to "Connect to Mentoring Opportunities", enter your zip code, and they generate a list of oganizations for you.)
• From CharityGuide: http://charityguide.org/volunteer/fewhours/mentoring.htm (Lots of links here! Also, links for online mentoring programs, although the one for icouldbe.org seems to have confused the heck out of my browser, and the vmentor.org one has some sort of issue with its security certificate.)
• Big Brothers Big Sisters: http://www.bbbs.org/

I may or may not have said it before on here, but whenever I hear about one of these shootings like the one today in Arizona or the one earlier in the week in Nebraska, it makes me think we're not doing enough to be there for people as they're growing up. Any time I try to talk or write about this, I become way too aware of how "not good" I am at words. I want to say too many things that either are contradictory or seem very contradictory.

So I'll just say: if you have any time--a couple of hours a week, even--to be there for a kid who needs someone to be there, please do so. You have no idea the need there is for you... or, if you're paying attention even a little, you probably have a very good idea.