Dear Neighbors,

As August rolls around, many children and families will begin thinking about the upcoming school year. This summer, I’m asking you to give some thought to how you can help support Pittsburgh youth.

I believe that Pittsburgh’s future is in the hands of its young people. That’s why I’ve committed to serving as a middle-school mentor during the 2011-12 school year – and I want you to join me.

There are lots of great ways to get involved. One opportunity is through the Be A 6th Grade Mentor Program– the largest mentoring project in the region’s history. Simply by sharing your time, you can make a tremendous difference. In a recent study of mentoring relationships, youth with mentors were shown to get better grades, be less likely to get involved with drugs and 86% more likely to go to college.

Along with serving as a mentor myself, I recently established the Mayor’s Mentoring Initiative to help grow youth mentoring efforts in our City. The Mayor’s Mentoring Initiative provides City employees with the opportunity to serve as middle-school mentors in partnership with the Be A 6th Grade Mentor Program. It is my hope that other businesses and corporations will follow my lead and make mentoring opportunities available to their employees as well.

For more information about the Be A 6th Grade Mentor project, please call 412-456-6770 or click on the link.  To learn about the Mayor’s Mentoring Initiative, please call 412- 255-4765 or click here. You can find additional mentoring opportunities here.