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Students for Fiver
Description: The Fiver Children's Foundation is a comprehensive youth development organization that empowers children from underserved communities to develop life skills and to reach their full potential.
Fiver's 10-year commitment to each child includes year-round mentoring and counseling programs, a character building residential summer camp, and partnerships with schools and community based organizations.
Colgate Students for Fiver pairs Colgate students with children who are enrolled in the Fiver program. Ten percent of the children enrolled in the Fiver Foundation are from the Hamilton area, and live at or below the poverty line. As a result, these children are in need of positive role models, which Colgate Students for Fiver provides through the mentoring program.
Each Colgate student is paired with a mentee and asked to maintain e-mail contact as well as meet once a month.
Community: Students work with the Fiver Children's Foundation, although they do not normally meet with the national foundation throughout the year.
Volunteers say: "My experience mentoring through Students for FIVER has been incredible. I have formed a great relationship with my 12-year-old mentee, who loves SpongeBob and bowling and is afraid of heights, and I always look forward to hearing his stories about 'extreme sledding' and his middle school football games. An aspect of joining FIVER that I didn't expect was the opportunity to get to know the rest of his family. They live in Earlville, and spending time with them has opened my eyes to the different perspective on Colgate that comes from 'outside the bubble'... His family is always so welcoming and hospitable to me, and spending just an hour with them makes me feel comfortable and at home. My mentee is such an incredible kid - I feel lucky to know him and his family."
Resources: Fiver Children's Foundation