Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! This week we’re giving thanks for our mentors, our mentees and the incredible number of icouldbe.org supporters. Without you, we wouldn’t be here!
What are you thankful for this year?
Photo credits:
Thanksgiving. November 27, 2008: clairity on Flickr.com Creative Commons
My name is Lisa and I have been mentoring with icouldbe.org since February 2008. My hopes when joining icouldbe.org were to help someone. I always wanted to go out and volunteer, but just felt I never had the time. I learned about icouldbe.org through one of Oprah’s shows. Oprah was suggesting ways that people could become more involved in their community, and something inside me knew this was the perfect place for me! What could be better than helping someone in an online setting, meaning I wouldn’t have to be at a specific place at a certain time? icouldbe.org gave me the opportunity to help someone from the comfort of my own home. At the time I applied, I was working outside of home, but knew eventually my goal was to be my own boss and work from home. icouldbe.org allows me to both work and mentor from home any time of the day!
Almost three-and-a-half years ago, I was fortunate enough to receive an email back from a mentee named Daisy. Little did I know that I was about to be blessed by a girl whom I’d never met before, seen or knew anything about. It was in our second email via icouldbe.org when she began to guide me on how to use the site, what to expect and how I could help her. From the beginning we had so much in common. One of our common interests was our faith. We are both very committed to our faith and from there it was a friendship that I knew would last a lifetime. That year I mentored her and answered her questions about college, life outside the walls of high school and finding a career that would suit her and make her happy. I gave her advice that I wished I’d had from someone I could trust to avoid some of the mistakes I made along the way.
Even though I was correcting her icouldbe.org assignments, we would still email throughout that first year, talking about life and friends. Our friendship blossomed quickly and our trust grew such that she wasn’t just getting help with her schoolwork, but was opening up and letting me into her heart, and what her hurts and hopes were. We still continued to email throughout the summer and throughout her last year in high school.
That next year we both experienced personal tragedies and were able to offer each other support. It was wonderful to know that we were always there for each other. Daisy and I had experienced and shared so much of ourselves that it was second nature, even after she graduated. We continued to stay in touch even though she was not part of the icouldbe.org program anymore.
My mentoring relationship started with Daisy almost three-and-a-half years ago and I have been blessed with the opportunity to “virtually” mentor Daisy. Daisy and I have emailed each other on icouldbe.org about how great it would be to meet after she turns 18. Now that she is, icouldbe.org is helping us to make contact and my hope is that we will meet someday soon! icouldbe.org has far exceeded my expectations; not only was I able to help someone, but in return I received a lifelong friend. Thank you icouldbe.org!!!
We announced last week that icouldbe.org would soon participate in an exciting campaign with Groupon, the daily deals and discounts site.
Beginning today, November 1st through Thursday, November 3rd, icouldbe.org is Groupon’s featured campaign!
Being featured on Groupon provides icouldbe.org with a great opportunity to reach our fundraising goal of $650, which will complete our first NY State Campaign. Our campaign will launch a new icouldbe.org mentoring program in a New York City public school for students who are at risk of dropping out of school.
100% of the funds raised through Groupon will go to icouldbe.org – ONLY if the deal gets “tipped”! That means we need 65 people to donate $10 between November 1st through November 3rd, in order for a NYC classroom in need to participate in our mentoring program.
Thank you to all who are able to give a donation and/or share this offer with your network of friends. A tweet or post on Facebook is helpful, too.
http://www.groupon.com/deals/gt-i-could-be-org
How do I donate through Groupon?
Share the message so more people can participate!
Copy and paste this tweet to spread the word:
Help bring an @icouldbeorg mentoring program to a #NYC classroom via Groupon Nov 1-3! http://gr.pn/rHR2hM
Go to Facebook and “Share” this link:
icouldbe.wordpress.com 