FAIRMONT–The month of January was National Mentoring Month and Kinship of Martin County is just wrapping up several ways in which it was celebrating.

Kinship’s executive director, Jen Kahler, said that for the last few years Kinship has held a show at the Red Rock Center for the Arts in Fairmont where people have been able to display their own personal stories relaying the impact mentoring has had on them.

“For the last two years we’ve been able to hold our mentor appreciation dinner at the Red Rock. It’s a chance to honor our mentors,” Kahler explained.

The event was held at the beginning of January and Kahler said there were about 20 mentors in attendance and while they were allowed a plus one, she said several brought their mentees as a guest, which was nice to see.

Each month Kinship has a larger event which allows mentors to bring their mentee to an organized get-together. January’s event was National Mentoring Month and in February Kinship is supposed to partner with the local Blizzard Snowmobile Club for snowmobiling, but that’s still up in the air depending on the weather. In March Kinship is partnering with the Fairmont Hockey Association for a beach party on ice.

Kinship is also working on launching a new Ambassador Problem, which will partner with each of the area school districts. Kahler expects that will take place sometime in March or April.

She said that Kinship has also began working with a separate organization which is utilizing the Kinship House once a week at 206 W. 3rd St. in Fairmont. WEcovery/Beyond Brink, which is based out of Mankato, does youth all-recovery meetings.

“It’s not just support for kids who are going through recovery themselves, but also ones who maybe have a parent or family member or friend going through recovery so it’s a way for them to find support that way,” Kahler said.

She said that while the program is not directly tied to Kinship of Martin County, it still has the potential to benefit those in the program.

“We’re grateful to have more opportunities to have some of those resources closer to Fairmont rather than the kids have to go elsewhere to get them,” Kahler said.

While any child is welcome to join Kinship for any reason, Kahler said they do acknowledge that some kids need a little more support than some of their peers. However, she said that anybody can benefit from having a mentor.

“We have kids from all across the spectrum,” Kahler said.

There are currently about 50 matches throughout the county. There is nearly always a waiting list and right now it’s split pretty evenly between boys and girls.

There are mentees from all over the county, including from the cities of Truman, Ceylon, Granada and Sherburn.

“It’s always a challenge for us to find mentors who can get matched with the kids outside of Fairmont. That’s an on-going struggle for us,” Kahler said.

Kinship leadership, which includes Kahler, directors Katy Gonzalez and Courtney Logwood and new part-time office administrator, Amber Diekmann, have been working on ways to further help the kids on the waiting list and one of the ways is looking at the various needs of every mentee.

“For some it’s being matched one-on-one with a mentor. But we’ve acknowledged that for some, maybe a group option is a better fit. We’re working on a way to address those needs so they can still benefit from the program,” Kahler said.

All in all, Kahler said that acknowledging National Mentoring Month and taking part in it is a chance for the organization to get more exposure than it might otherwise.

There are just about 20 Kinship Inc. affiliates in Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Dakotas with the nearest being in New Ulm, though Kahler did note that the nearby communities of Blue Earth and Albert Lea have mentoring programs, but that they’re not affiliated with Kinship.

“I think if you mention the word “mentor” to someone, most people think business mentoring for adults. But with youth mentoring, in bigger suburban areas they think of Big Brothers Big Sisters, but in more rural areas, mentoring programs don’t get a lot of spotlight outside of the people they’re serving,” Kahler said.

She stressed that while Kinship is always looking for mentors, it is also in need of volunteers, which could be a good fit for someone who maybe can’t fully commit to being a mentor. Kinship also has a Rent-A-Ment program, which allows screened individuals to serve as a mentor on a temporary basis. Kahler that that after serving as a Rent-A-Ment, many people opt to go full-time after forming such a positive relationship with a mentee.