Mentors International blog

Our new blog can be seen integrated into our site at http://mentorsinternational.org/blog-2/

Thanks for reading.

There is nothing more stunning than the Wasatch Range. What better way to enjoy the beautiful landscape than running alongside those mountains on the Jordan River Parkway?

Don’t miss the first annual Run for Self-Reliance, benefitting Mentors International. On Saturday, June 8^th, Mentors will host its first 5k in Riverton, Utah. For a $25 registration, participants will receive a t-shirt, swag bag full of race goodies, and a chance to win other prizes.

Our race is expected to be so awesome that even Custom Wristbands decided to jump on board. These kind folks designed and donated custom wristbands for us! You know the kind all the cool athletes wear to show off their racing achievements? You’ll want to be sure you register early because only the first 250 participants will be lucky enough to get one!

Registration is projected to open April 1^st. For more information, please visit:

www.raceforselfreliance.com

By: Lauren Kwasniewski

This Christmas season has seemed busier than usual. I seem to be rushing every night trying to pick up one more thing I need to get or trying to think of who I could be forgetting on my Christmas list. Trying to plan holiday parties and balancing Christmas activities with family and friends has added up to a more hectic Holiday season. I woke up at 5:30am this morning and started thinking of things I might be forgetting. Then I was frustrated that I couldn’t go back to sleep. I lay there thinking…and without distractions of cell phone, computer, social media, my wonderful daughter or husband, I wondered if I was really feeling the Christmas spirit. I wanted to feel it in my soul, the spirit of giving, of doing something for others, which despite best efforts can still be elusive.

Then my mind wandered to Guatemala, where I went to visit our clients about 7 weeks ago. I wondered what they were getting for Christmas, if they were able to provide presents for their kids. We are surrounded by so much, and it’s so easy to get caught up in what we have or don’t have, what our neighbor has and what we want. It is hard to separate ourselves from our culture and do away with the material things, but for me I need to find a way to do that. I think of the humble people of Guatemala and their genuine happiness that comes from within – not from things. I have tried to “give” this Christmas season – as I always do and because we have been truly blessed this year, I have tried to give a little bit more than usual – some anonymously and some not. I would like to be able to peek in on Christmas morning to those that we are helping out and see their eyes. I hope that it will make them happy, but I have to wonder for how long. If there is anything I learned on my trip to Guatemala it is that things don’t make us happy. For me, I love to give to others – in doing service or in finding the perfect gift for that certain person or trying to help them in some way for me, truly giving of my heart and wanting the best for someone is what I enjoy. I think that is why this job fits me so well and why I love to come to work each day. What makes Christmas for you?

I hope that on Christmas morning when all the presents are unwrapped and all the wrapping paper is cleaned up that we can all feel the Christmas spirit in our heart and in our homes.  Perhaps, we will feel the Christmas spirit by remembering those we have helped or are going to help this coming year.  The spirit of Christmas and giving means so much more to me this year because I have seen firsthand what poverty is.  Our possessions do not make us rich.  I learned from the Guatemalans that it is to have and to hold your family close to you. It is to provide for their wellbeing and health.  It is to thank God for everything he has blessed you with.  May we all feel the spirit of Christmas as we gather those who are most important to us.

Recently the news has been covering the possibility of the government eliminating the charitable tax deductions. This would have pretty big ramifications for most nonprofits. I read the following article and thought it was well put, if you would like to understand more about it please read it.

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2012/11/26/should-the-charitable-tax-deduction-be-eliminated

About a week ago I found out this initiative called “Giving Tuesday”.  I wished I had found it earlier, but I guess better late than never. Basically it’s a day set aside to give to others who have less. Here is an explanation of it, from their website:

This year, something unique will take place on Tuesday, November 27, 2012. It’s being called GivingTuesday, and with your help it will make history. Our goal is to launch a day of giving at the start of the annual holiday shopping season and to show that holiday shopping can be about both giving and giving back.

People everywhere including retailers, charities, online organizations, community centers, individuals, families and more will come together with one common purpose ‐‐ to help others and incentivize ways to give more, give smarter, and celebrate the great American spirit of contribution. 

#GivingTuesday is not a new giving platform, but a call to action to celebrate giving and encourage more, better and smarter giving during the Holiday Season. It’s an organizing principle to encourage the creativity and energy of Americans to work together for good. 

When I think of the billions that were spent this past weekend, and I think how much we as a people have been blessed, I hope that we can make this Tuesday a day that we can give to others who aren’t as fortunate as us. I personally have decided to cut back a little on what I spend on others and try to help others out a bit more. Won’t you do the same?

http://givingtuesday.org/partner-detail/mentors-international/

https://www.mentorsinternational.org/general-donation.php

Education has always been a priority in my life. From a very young age, the importance of continuing my education has been instilled in my mind by my mother. She set the example by obtaining her Bachelor’s, then Master’s, and eventually Doctorate degrees as a single mother. She consistently reminded my brother and me that school should take precedence in our lives. She always knew and wanted us to understand that academic achievement was the road to success.

I have never considered how much I have in common with Mentors’ clients until I was asked to write this guest post. As I reflect on my childhood, I remember my mother working 60 plus hours a week just so we could be a member of every club, program, and after school activity we desired. Just like our clients, she wanted to make the best life possible for us. Many of our clients; who like my own mother, are single mothers, use their profit to send their children to school. They want to provide an opportunity to them that they never had. They sacrifice and save so they can fund this dream.

It’s incredible what a loan of $100 can mean to our clients. Their wants are so very simple and often times some of the things we take for granted.  As an employee at Mentors, I am grateful for the opportunity to work and lead a self-sufficient life.  Employment and the values that were instilled in me from a very young age have allowed me to pursue and obtain a degree from the University of Utah. Just like our clients and my own mother, I now have a dream to save for my future children’s education. 

Guest post by David Stump, Director of Finance and Administration at Mentors International

One day before national and local elections, I can’t help but feel some relief.  The assuming pile of campaign propaganda has made for considerable weight in my recycle bin.  Soon I won’t have my mail box overstuffed and have to listen at every turn on my television or radio about the pros and cons of each candidate.  What appears to be a very tight election will have resulted in more money spent to support each of the presidential candidates and many local and state candidates.  It is estimated that over $6 billion will be spent on the presidential race alone!  The result is one candidate has a lot to measure up to while the losing candidates fade away either permanently or for a temporary hiatus.  But what of the money spent?  What if the money were placed in well-meaning nonprofits who are trying to solve some of the world’s most complex problems?

Candidates make unfulfilled promises that are yet to be executed, while many nonprofits are already solving complex problems but lack sufficient funding.  Candidates talk about job generation and have artificially provided many campaign jobs that will come to a close by the end of the week. The winners, of course, are the Super PACs and all the media and printing outlets who have temporarily capitalized on the influx of cash.  Who really benefits from the $6 billion spent on the presidential election?  How many really believed every campaign advertisement or false and misleading statements meant to sway votes?  If you are like me, your decision was sealed up many weeks ago.  Sophisticated marketing and advertising really lead the way in the money game.  The rest is just overkill.

Mentors International recently celebrated our work at a Gala this past Friday evening.  While it lacked the attention of the Democratic or Republican Conventions, our efforts to help the impoverished make a better life were celebrated.  With an average loan size of $117, we would be able to help 51,282,051 become entrepreneurs with $6 billion!  (Consider how many people benefit if there are five more family members.) Would that make a difference!  You bet it would!  With many world banks exhibiting weakness, we will continue to teach business principles and accountability to individuals who don’t want a handout but really just need a hand up.  We help them become self-reliant.  It is amazing when individuals have their basic needs met – their health improves and their outlook on life changes.  We empower individuals to seek out a better life of their choosing instead of dealing with what their circumstances have given them.  Our clients are able to break a cycle of poverty and take the next steps to make changes that will affect generations of their families.  The best part is they do it with dignity and they repay what has been lent to them to ensure their success.  The money recycles and helps more impoverished entrepreneurs.   Think about that when a politician tries to explain why so much money is needed to solve a problem that has no perpetuity! Can we really make lasting change without accountability and programs that grow and flourish to help others?

Consider making a gift to show your support of solving one of the world’s most complex problems – poverty!  See what a difference you can make.  Then sit back and watch the last of your campaign propaganda move on to the recyclers.  Temporary spending for temporary solutions.  Permanent giving for a lasting solution.  You decide!  Cast your vote now!  http://tinyurl.com/br2pz7j

The Power of Words

I watched a powerful video this week about the power of words.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzgzim5m7oU&feature=share

As a child, I remember reading the book, “The Princess Bride.” I loved that book and read it several times.  I had it all visualized in my head of what the princess would look like and all of the characters. Then, the movie came out. It wasn’t what I had visualized and not what I expected. A lot of my friends, who hadn’t read the book, loved the movie. It took me time to learn to appreciate the way someone else interpreted the book. I eventually did grow to love the movie and over time I have lost the vision of how I had imagined it. This has happened to most of us – we have a vision and someone else creates something different. Which is why words are so powerful, they create your reality of what you are reading.

On the other hand, it can be great to see another’s interpretation.   As in my example above, the disconnect between your own reading and imagining and then actually seeing another’s can be very different. Most good marketing people understand this – they know that videos and visuals can give you a dose of “reality”, although it is their vision. What is better than videos? Experiencing it for yourself, feeling the feelings, walking in another’s footsteps, living in their reality – being in the moment.

Visiting Guatemala became a new reality for me. I had seen pictures, watched videos, heard and read stories, but walking there, experiencing it, that is when it became real. I could feel the pride they had in keeping their dirt floors clean, their hand planted crops in perfect rows and their few worldly possessions kept neat. I could empathize with the hope they had for their children for a better future. I came to know of their love for God and their gratefulness for everything that they had.  During the trip, I was talking to one of our board members who has been involved with Mentors for a while now, but this was her first trip. She said, “You just don’t get it until you are here and meet the people. You see the pride in their eyes and the gratefulness in their hearts.” I agree whole heartedly. And although I see differently now, I am scared of losing that vision in my head, of coming back and settling into my world – comfortable with my nice clothes, my car that will take me anywhere I want to go, and not remembering the gratitude, the humbleness and their reality.

In the coming weeks, I will be sharing new video of our trip to Guatemala. I hope that it gives you a glimpse into their world. If it encourages you to learn more about our organization, all the better, and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have. If you want o experience for yourself their reality and not rely on my interpretation, and you want to join us on an upcoming trip then please contact me.