HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-058 RESOLUTION NO. 02-58
A RESOLUTION PROCLAIMING THE
MONTH OF JANUARY, 2002, AS "MENTOR
MONTH" IN ST. LUCIE COUNTY, FLORIDA
WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners of St. Lucie County, Florida, has made
the following determinations:
1. The future course of the State of Florida and our Nation rests on the shoulders of our
youth, and educated, confident, nurtured children will give rise to a stronger state and nation.
2. Many of Florida's children are struggling with their education - over 200,000 are
suspended each year, over 100,000 students fail to be promoted, and over 30,000 students drop out
of school each year.
3. Mentoring is shown to have an enormous impact on youth; as concluded by a National
Public Private Venture study which found that mentoring reduced the use of illegal drugs by 46%;
reduced the use of underage drinking by 27%, reduced the likelihood of absenteeism in school by
52%, and reduced the likelihood of students engaging in a fight at school by 33%.
4. The Governor's Mentoring Initiative was created in 1999 to increase the number of
mentors and tutors in Florida for children in our public schools by working closely with state and
local mentor partner groups including Best Buddies, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boys and Girls Clubs,
Communities in School, HOSTS, the school volunteer coordinators, Take Stock in Children, the
Florida Volunteer and Mentor Centers, and hundreds of local mentoring partners.
5. In support ofmentoring, the Florida Cabinet approved an administrative rule which allows
state employees one hour per week to serve as a mentor, which has resulted in thousands of new
mentoring relationships.
6. In support of mentoring, over 200 Florida businesses have joined the Governor's
Mentoring Initiative corporate Honor Roll to allow employees an opportunity to mentor including
such leading corporations in mentoring as Agilent Technologies, Arby's, Anheuser Busch, JM
Family Enterprises, State Farm Insurance Companies and many more.
7. In support of mentoring, through the leadership of such organizations as the Florida
League of Cities and the Institute of Government, and with special assistance from the chair of the
Municipal Mentoring Initiative, Mayor Rick Baker of St. Petersburg, many cities throughout the state
are joining the mentoring movement and allowing employees the oppommity to mentor.
8. In support ofmentoring, a majority of the members in the House of Representatives have
signed a petition stating that: "Mentoring is a low-cost program with great potential impact in the
state. It might be Florida's most cost effective investment into the future."
9. St. Lucie County, the City of Ft. Pierce, St. Lucie County School District, Lawnwood
Regional Medical Center, St. Lucie Medical Center, First People's Bank, State Farm Insurance
Company, Department of Children & Families and the St. Lucie County Health Department have
locally joined forces with Big Brothers Big Sisters to provide mentors to our local schools over the
past year.
10. Indian River Community College, St. Lucie County School District, and QVC have locally
joined forces with Take Stock in Children to provide mentors to our local schools over the past year.
11. Due to the focus on mentoring there has been a huge increase in the number of mentors
and tutors in Florida and the Governor's Mentoring Initiative has documented over 72,000 one-on-
one mentoring matches in Florida and an additional 42,000 group mentoring matches.
12. The establishment of Florida Mentor Month in conjunction with National Mentor Month
will emphasize the importance ofmentoring and recognize the praise and gratitude the many Florida
ATTEST:
citizens already involved in mentoring.
13. The celebration of Mentor Month would above all, encourage more people to volunteer as
mentors to the benefit of our young people.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of County Commissioners of St.
Lucie County, Florida:
1. This Board does hereby proclaim the month of January, 2002 as "MENTOR MONTH"
in St. Lucie County, Florida.
2. This Board urges the citizens of St. Lucie County to support the benefits that mentoring
is bringing St. Lucie County and Florida's children.
PASSED AND DULY ADOPTED this 15th day of January, 2002.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
ST. LUCIE COUNTY, FLORIDA
CL
APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM AND
COUNTY A~EY