With more mentee referrals yet to come, there are currently 17 local children awaiting a mentor to be paired with this school year through United Way of Northeastern Minnesota (UWNEMN)’s Lunch Buddies mentoring program.
“The absolute last thing we want is for children to be placed on a wait list for this program,” said UWNEMN Education and Childhood Programs Specialist Sarah Gardeski. “We’d rather wait for the program to start so all children can start at once than have anyone feeling left out – Lunch Buddies is meant to make students feel good about themselves!”
Current volunteer mentor needs are:
- one for Keewatin Elementary
- six for Laurentian Elementary in Eveleth
- two for Merritt Elementary in Mountain Iron
- three for Mesabi East in Aurora
- two for North Star Elementary in Eveleth
- three for Northeast Range in Babbitt
UWNEMN developed the Lunch Buddies mentoring program in 2020 to provide elementary school students with additional positive adult role models.
The program matches first and second grade students with screened, trained volunteer mentors to share one lunch break each week during the school year and has expanded to 10 schools across the region: Cherry, International Falls Elementary, Keewatin Elementary, Laurentian Elementary, Merritt Elementary, Mesabi East, Northeast Range, North Star Elementary, Parkview Elementary, and Vaughan-Steffensrud Elementary
Lunch Buddies has had a high success rate across the board: 100% of parents/guardians and teachers whose students participated in Lunch Buddies last year felt their students benefited from the program, 100% of children in last year’s program said they looked forward to Lunch Buddies days, and 100% of mentors said they felt the time they spent with their mentee was meaningful.
“[My student was] bursting with happiness to see [their] mentor,” one teacher responded.
Teachers and students alike report Lunch Buddies mentees look forward to coming to school on Lunch Buddies days.
“[Student] remembered what Tuesday meant,” another teacher said. “[They] didn’t really do that with anything else."
Mentors are being interviewed now, and UWNEMN and partner schools plan for mentoring to run mid-October to early May.
For the full list of Lunch Buddies locations this school year and the most current number of mentors needed at each school – or to apply to be a Lunch Buddies mentor - visit www.unitedwaynemn.org/lunch-buddies or call 218-215-2570.