Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. has announced the creation of Mentor Maryland, a new statewide mentoring recruitment program. Partnering with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Maryland, his office has challenged Maryland's businesses, colleges, and faith institutions to heed his call for 2002 mentors in 2002.

Simply put, mentoring is a one-on-one relationship between a caring adult and a child in need. The time spent can be as little as a few hours a month, but the difference in a child's life enormous.

"Mentoring works. The friendship, guidance, and support of a caring, stable adult in a child's life can make a world of difference," Attorney General Curran said. "Studies show mentoring dramatically improves school attendance, graduation and college enrollment, and severely lowers rates of drug abuse and delinquent behavior."

Studies suggest about a quarter of Maryland's children are at risk. According to the most recent data available, Maryland has the second highest teen suicide rate in the country, and more per capita child victims of handgun homicide than any other state. Fifteen percent of Maryland's children live in poverty, and ten percent of all births in Maryland are to teenage girls.

Big Brothers Big Sisters, which has been actively involved in mentoring since 1904, will screen and place mentors recruited by the Attorney General's initiative. "The Attorney General's campaign is an important step in maximizing mentors across Maryland to help more boys and girls grow up confident, competent, and caring," said Robin Tomechko of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Maryland.

General Colin Powell has said, "Children learn from adults. They learn from listening to them, and from watching them. If they have the right kind of adults in their lives, then they'll go the right way. They will become children of character."

Anyone interested in becoming a mentor can get more information and apply online at www.oag.state.md.us or by calling 1-888-743-0023.

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