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| Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors Background HOW
PASS IT ON - OUTDOOR MENTORS, INC. GOT ITS START In 2002, BBBS of Sedgwick County began a state-wide initiative to provide mentoring services to many of the smaller communities throughout Kansas. As part of this effort, a Director of Outdoor Mentoring position was established to expand the outdoor mentoring program across the state. Funding for
the Outdoor Mentoring program initially came from the National Shooting
Sports Foundation and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, who together
provided over $300,000 to help launch the outdoor mentoring program
in Kansas, as well as pilot programs in Pennsylvania and Texas.
As the program grew and demonstrated that it could successfully
recruit mentors, more BBBS agencies across the nation became interested.
This interest spurred the need to spin Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors,
Inc. off as a separate non-profit, focused on recruiting mentors
who would spend time sharing their love of the outdoors with a child. Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors is not interested in creating new programs that duplicate services currently being provided by other organizations. Rather than develop mentor screening and match management services, Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors partners with existing youth mentoring organizations like Big Brothers Big Sisters. Rather than create new shooting sports programs, Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors partners with organizations like 4-H Shooting Sports to provide children with instruction and facilities specific to their interests. Rather than design new outdoor festival events, Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors partners with organizations like the National Wild Turkey Federation to encourage mentors and children to participate in their JAKES events. Initially, the
focus of Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors under BBBS was to recruit
mentors. The fact that it focused on the outdoors was simply a product
of the efforts to recruit more men as mentors. Recruitment of mentors
remains a strong focus of Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors, as we believe
that for many of the children we serve, experiencing time outdoors
won’t happen without a mentor. We also work to give more outdoor
opportunities to at-risk children, both those who are matched with
a caring mentor as well as those who are still in need of a mentor. Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors hosts outdoor activities to give volunteers a chance to familiarize themselves with the needs these children have and to give the children quality time outdoors. We have found that many of these outdoor activities give the volunteers opportunities to gain experience in areas they had not participated in the past. Once a match
is made, the mentor and child spend time together outdoors on their
own, typically 2-3 times each month. This level of exposure to the
outdoors gives the child a chance to develop an appreciation for
the outdoors that they wouldn’t have with single-day events
like fishing derbies and outdoor festivals. They are given the opportunity
to build their outdoor skills and to learn responsibility, good
conservation ethics and respect for our natural world. All of which
can only be learned through first-hand experience…and none
of which they will have the opportunity to learn without a mentor
helping to make it happen. In addition to connecting these children to nature, the mentoring aspect of the program is just as important. Mentoring works. Research has shown, time and again, how children who have mentors do better in school, stay out of trouble and have better chance at success than their peers who do not have a mentor. Using sound
and safe mentoring principles to give at-risk children the opportunity
to connect with the outdoors, Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors impacts
the lives of thousands of children across the country.
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