Share Your Story About a Positive Male Mentor for the United Way Day of Action

Now through the United Way Day of Action on June 21, Middlesex United Way is inviting people from all across the community to share their stories about a positive male mentor in their lives. Stories can be submitted at www.middlesexunitedway.org/yourstory and will be posted on United Way’s website and shared on social media. Together, we can send a strong message about the importance of positive male role models in young people’s lives.

The United Way Day of Action takes place each year on or leading up to June 21, the summer solstice. The Day of Action is meant to call attention to an important issue or cause and ask people to “take action” in support of it.

According to Kevin Wilhelm, Middlesex United Way Executive Director, “We decided to focus on positive male mentoring for Day of Action because it ties into our work in the area of health and more specifically, our goal to reduce the rate of risky behaviors among youth. There is no doubt that all children can benefit from a positive male role model or mentor, not only to reduce high-risk behaviors but to make good choices that will lead to a greater chance of success in life.”

Chamber Honors Mentorship Sponsors

From the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce:

Kenneth MacCormac, Chairman of the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce, announced sponsorship recognition of Middletown Mentor Program at a Breakfast for National Mentoring Month hosted by The Governor’s Prevention Partnership. The Breakfast will be held at Courtyard by Marriott in Cromwell on Wednesday, January 28 at 8:00 a.m.

The Middletown Mentor Program corporate sponsors that will be recognized are: Citizens Bank Corporation, Connecticut Valley Hospital, Liberty Bank, Middle Oak, Seasons Federal Credit Union, and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Other sponsors of the Middletown Mentor Program to be recognized are: Citizens Bank “Not Your Typical 5K” Road Race, Middletown Board of Education, and Middletown Motorcycle Mania presented by Trantolo &Trantolo and WCCC.

“We are very thankful for the outstanding support of these organizations and for the hard work of Program Director Hal Kaplan. The program continues to be a great success because of these two very important pieces,” Middlesex Chamber President Larry McHugh said.

National Mentoring Month aims to raise awareness of the benefits and value of mentoring; recruit individuals to mentor, especially in programs that have a waiting list of young people; and promote the rapid growth of mentoring by engaging organizations—including businesses, faith communities, schools and community groups—to encourage their employees and members to become mentors.

For more information on the Middletown Mentor Program, please contact Jennifer De Kine at the Chamber at (860) 347-6924 or by email at jdekine@middlesexchamber.com.