Kansas Mentors Announces Mini-Grant Recipients

Local programs propose strategies to recruit and retain more Kansans as mentors

TOPEKA, KS –Coach Bill Snyder, Dr. Andy Tompkins, and Kristy McKechnie, co-chairs of Kansas Mentors’ advisory councils, announced today the recipients of roughly $34,000 in mentor recruitment and retention mini-grants through the Kansas Mentors’ initiative. 

“Kansas’ mentoring programs are reporting significant declines in funding while an increase in the need for services,” Snyder said.  “These funds are a strategic investment to ensure more young Kansans have access to a caring role model.”

Grant funds will allow recipients to implement a variety of recruitment and retention strategies over the next six months to engage more Kansans as volunteer mentors.  Recipients were selected based on their ability to leverage local resources as match funds and collaborate with community partners.  Recipients include:

To date, Kansas Mentors has awarded more than $510,000 to mentoring organizations statewide and is currently partnered with more than175 mentoring programs serving 86 Kansas counties.  The organization is committed to providing every young Kansan access to a caring and quality mentor through recruitment, awareness and training efforts.