Kids with a Connection Mentoring Program with Greene County Extension reaches out to children of all ages.

Coordinator Laura Ballard says the program involves youth in Greene County spending time with an adult mentor doing various activities and being a positive role model.

“It’s very rewarding to see the mentors and the youth, when we get to connect with them. Some of them have been paired for years. We just ask that they try to spend an hour a week with each other. And it’s just a chance to have that one other person in your life that can just for that time that you’re together, focus on you.”

Sometimes there are large group events like in April when several mentors and mentees got to do art projects at Art on the Fly in Jefferson. Last weekend, Kids With a Connection sponsored a Fun Day in the Park as youth got to hang out with Greene County High School and Iowa State University football players.

Interested adults who want to learn more about being a mentor, can contact Ballard at 386-3412 during normal business hours at the Extension office.