A resolution designating January 2004 as " National Mentoring Month".

        [Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 294 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

108th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 294

Designating January 2004 as ``National Mentoring Month''.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

January 28, 2004

Mr. Kennedy (for himself, Mr. McCain, Mr. Allen, Mr. Akaka, Mr. Pryor,
Mr. Kerry, Mr. Nelson of Nebraska, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Dayton, Ms. Mikulski,
Mr. Grassley, and Mr. Cochran) submitted the following resolution;
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

February 2, 2004

Committee discharged; considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

RESOLUTION

Designating January 2004 as ``National Mentoring Month''.

Whereas mentoring is a strategy for motivating and helping young people succeed
in life, by bringing them together in structured and trusting
relationships with caring adults who provide guidance, support, and
encouragement;
Whereas mentoring offers a supportive environment in which young people can
grow, expand their vision, learn necessary skills, and achieve a future
that the young people never thought possible;
Whereas a growing body of research shows that mentoring benefits young people
in numerous ways, through improvements in school performance and
attendance, self-confidence, attitudes and relationships with adults,
and motivation to reach their potential;
Whereas mentoring is an adaptable, flexible approach that can be tailored to
focus on helping young people with academics, social skills, career
preparation, or leadership development;
Whereas over 15,000,000 young people in this Nation still need mentors, falling
into a ``mentoring gap'';
Whereas mentoring relies principally on volunteer mentors, so mentoring
programs must recruit even more volunteers in order to expand their
program to help more young people;
Whereas, in an effort to begin closing the mentoring gap, this year Congress has
significantly increased Federal grant funding for local mentoring
organizations to $100,000,000;
Whereas the recipients of these grants and other entities carrying out
mentoring programs all across the country will need an influx of
volunteers to meet the growing demand for mentoring;
Whereas nonprofit groups and leading media companies have joined together to
designate January 2004 as National Mentoring Month to recruit more
mentors for young people; and
Whereas the month-long celebration of mentoring will encourage more adults to
volunteer their time as mentors for young people and enlist the
involvement of nonprofit organizations, schools, businesses, faith
communities, and government agencies in the mentoring movement: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1)(A) designates the month of January 2004 as ``National
Mentoring Month''; and
(B) requests that the President issue a proclamation
calling on the people of the United States and interested
groups to observe the month with appropriate ceremonies and
activities that promote awareness of and volunteer involvement
with mentoring;
(2) praises individuals who are already giving their time
to mentor young people; and
(3) supports efforts to recruit more adults as mentors, in
an effort to close the Nation's mentoring gap.
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