In just two short months, it will be “Go!” Feb. 4 marked the two-month countdown to the KidStart Run, a 600-kilometre effort to raise funds for the KidStart Volunteer Mentoring Program.
Campbell River resident Terry Kratzmann has set a goal to run from Cape Scott to Victoria during the month of April 2012. Terry will be joined by Shane Douglas from the Comox Valley for the first 375 km of the run (Cape Scott to Courtenay), as well as Jim Finlayson from Victoria and other runners for sections of the route.
Both Terry and Shane know the value of mentoring first hand. Terry volunteered as a KidStart mentor for more than three years. Over that time, the teenage boy he mentored made huge positive changes that his mother described as “beyond my dreams.”
Shane has been a mentor with KidStart for close to two years. “As an adult I still have several important role models in my life that I look up to and learn from, and I use those lessons as best I can to help my mentee.”
Shane was inspired to join Terry because the run provides an opportunity to raise awareness of the positive benefits of KidStart. “I believe this run will help many of the kids who are struggling in our communities realize how great they can be,” he said.
KidStart is offered by The John Howard Society of North Island in Campbell River and the Comox Valley. The volunteer-based program focuses on the positive development of vulnerable children and youth ages six to 18 who could benefit from having stable, committed, and caring adults in their lives.
KidStart connects children and youth with carefully screened and trained adult mentors. These volunteers spend three or more hours with their "mentee" each week. Through role modeling and encouraging kids to participate in activities that build their confidence, mentors help children and youth become more resilient and successful.
You can help Terry, Shane, Jim, and the other runners in their monumental effort for KidStart. Make a donation or register for the 5K run into Campbell River on April 14, Courtenay on April 15, or Victoria on April 28. Visit www.jhsni.bc.ca and click on the KidStart Run link for more details, look up KidStart Run on Facebook, or call Wendy in Courtenay at 250-338-7341 or Tara in Campbell River at 250-286-0611.
– KidStart