News Release 11-4

For information, contact

Frank Hamsher

314.954.7392

Frank.Hamsher@gmail.com

Leading Youth Service Agencies Combine Forces to Help Kids Grow

Mentor St. Louis becomes program of Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club

St. Louis, MO., November 4, 2009 – Two top organizations that help kids develop self-esteem and skills for success in life are now one to help kids reach their full potential. Mentor St. Louis and Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club are teaming up to strengthen and broaden a mentoring program which serves hundreds of kids in targeted city elementary schools. Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club, a respected youth development organization which has served the community for more than 40 years, will now administer the in-school mentoring program Mentor St. Louis has offered in some city schools for almost 15 years.

“It’s great news for two outstanding agencies. But it’s even better news for kids who benefit so greatly from life-changing activities and relationships that promote academic success, good character and healthy lifestyles,” said Herbert Hoover’s President, Flint W. Fowler, Ph.D. “Kids everywhere, but especially the kids we serve, need caring adults and positive, safe environments. Mentor and Herbert Hoover both have great track records building kids’ self confidence and the skills to grow and thrive.”

Mentor St. Louis has been the region’s largest school-based mentoring program and the largest group of volunteers in the St. Louis Public Schools in recent years. Hundreds of mentors provide vital ongoing relationships with caring adults for kids in monthly sessions built around a curriculum that reinforces academic achievement and personal skill development.

Under the new affiliation, Mentor St. Louis will continue as a defined and named program of the Boys & Girls Club, supported by the same staff members, who have become members of the Herbert Hoover team. Mentors and mentees will continue to have the kind of support which helps make this program special for all participants. Professional staff will still recruit, train and assist mentors and mentees, serve as liaisons with principals and the school district, and develop materials to help make mentoring sessions rewarding and fun for adults and students alike.

Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club will provide strong administrative and programmatic support needed to sustain and grow an acclaimed program, while offering opportunities for kids to participate in the club’s outstanding athletic, educational enrichment, dental, vision, performing arts, and character and leadership development programs and services.

Serving kids from 6 to 18 years old, Herbert Hoover’s two city and one north St. Louis County locations offer a wide array of experiences to benefit the whole child in the areas of character and leadership development; education and career development; the arts; health and life skills; and sports, fitness and recreation. The club’s city locations are the Sportsmen’s Park facility at 2910 North Grand Avenue and its Adams Park unit, 4317 Vista Avenue in the Forest Park Southeast.

Children participating in Mentor St. Louis as mentees will have the opportunity to enjoy and learn from all of these programs as they become Boys & Girls Club members. “We are so excited to offer a great expansion of choices and opportunities for fun and enrichment to our kids and mentors,” said Susan Dickens Schlichter, co-founder of Mentor St. Louis with her husband Jerry.

“Herbert Hoover and Mentor St. Louis have exactly the same goal – lifting up kids with great opportunities to learn and grow. We share a belief that all kids deserve great opportunity and encouragement to reach as high as they can,” said Jerry Schlichter.

“This affiliation is a great fit,” said Fowler. “We will each be stronger, and our kids will have even better chances in life because Mentor St. Louis is now part of Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club.”

Joining forces will create some administrative savings at a time when most human service organizations are challenged by the nation’s economic downturn. In addition, the new arrangement will lead to a stronger programmatic and administrative foundation and broader mentoring options for the long term.  The Mentor St. Louis program will continue in five city elementary schools, following some consolidation of schools for this year by the St. Louis Public Schools. The program works with kids at Cote Brilliante, Dunbar, Farragut, Jefferson and Sherman elementary schools.

Herbert Hoover will welcome mentors and mentees at open houses in coming weeks, and mentoring sessions are now resuming. “We will make sure mentors and mentees feel right at home in the club’s warm and positive environment,” said Fowler.

“We believe all kids deserve to grow up with support from caring adults who help them make good choices and develop skills and self-confidence. Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club and Mentor St. Louis have each been doing that for a long time. We are pleased they have teamed up to give kids even better chances for success. This affiliation has great potential for kids and opens exciting new doors,” said Susan Schlichter.

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