Gov. Bev Perdue has proclaimed January as Mentoring Month to encourage North Carolinians to become mentors to our students and to recognize those already involved in mentoring. The effort is part of National Mentoring Month. The theme for this year’s national observance is “Expand Your Universe. Mentor a Child.”

“Mentoring can truly mean the difference between opportunity and failure, hope and discouragement, to a child who lacks an adult role model in his or her life,” said Gov. Perdue. “I encourage everyone who can to volunteer their time to help change the life of a child.”

There are more than 500,000 children in North Carolina and 15 million children in the country who seek a mentor, and many of these children are currently on waiting lists for a mentor.

The annual “Thank Your Mentor Day” will be held on Jan. 21, when citizens are urged to thank and honor their role models. Participants may join some of America’s most prominent citizens like Maya Angelo, Cal Ripken, Jr., Tom Brokaw, and others who have posted a tribute to their mentor and learn more about becoming a mentor on the campaign website, www.WhoMentoredYou.org.

National Mentoring Month is spearheaded by the Harvard Mentoring Project of the Harvard School of Public Health, MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership. The Corporation for National and Community Service will partner with other designated nonprofit and governmental agencies to lead the 2010 national campaign.

The N.C. Mentoring Partnership, which works to expand mentoring efforts throughout North Carolina, is the state affiliate of the National Mentoring Partnership and is part of the Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service in the Governor’s Office. Communities in Schools of North Carolina partners with the Commission and conducts training, manages a statewide public relations campaign to recruit more mentors, strengthens mentoring partnerships and creates new mentoring efforts.

To learn more about the mentoring programs in North Carolina, visit the Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service’s website www.volunteernc.org.