Volunteer Recruitment Coffeehouse Night Today!

Hello Everyone! The day has come! Tonight is the Volunteer Recruitment Campaign Coffeehouse Night! As I've said in previous posts, it will be from 5-8 pm at ING Direct Cafe, 21 E. Chestnut St., Chicago, IL 60611. Afterparty following most likely at the Clark St. Alehouse, 742 N. Clark St.

People ask me all the time, why should someone

become a tutor or mentor. I could give you many

reasons, including:

-Tutoring and mentoring underprivileged youth improves their academic performance.

-It improves their chances of going to college.

-It improves their changes of getting a job.

-It contributes to their overall well-being.

-It improves the well-being of their community

-Children who receive tutoring and mentoring are less likely to drop out of school.

-They are less likely to join gangs

-They are less likely to get arrested and go to jail


-They are less likely to get pregnant while still a teenager.

These statistics are from tutoring and mentoring a child for as little as one hour a week. We can all complain about how busy our lives are, but if eveyone gave up one hour of their week to make a difference in an underprivileged child's life, can you imagine what a difference that would make?

If you need research to back up these statistics, you can turn to my colleague and NUPIP fellow for 2008-2009, Chris Warren's blog article on the research backing up the benefits of tutoring and mentoring. Enjoy! And come to our Volunteer Recruitment Coffeehouse Night - even if you can just spare one hour of your time today!