The Parsippany Police Athletic League has received funding to establish a mentoring program. With funding from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention, the National Association of Police Athletic/Activities Leagues, Inc. is providing program awards to over a 100 PAL Chapters. Parsippany PAL is one of the grant recipients for this exciting program.
On February 6th at the Parsippany PAL Mayor James Barberio along with police Chief Paul Phillips, Tony Bonavitcola, PALDirector, Lt. Brian Dowd, and Sunny Sullivan-Fullerton, Youth Counselor helped kick off the youth mentoring program. Many volunteers within our community were present last night for the first meeting, in this meeting the volunteers were informed about the requirements of the program and the logistics of how it will work.
Mayor James Barberio thanked all volunteers because without them, this program would not be possible. The children are the heart of the community and this program helps to ensure all children are actively learning about leadership, peer pressure, self confidence, bullying and to be aware of the increase of drug use within town.
The Mentoring Program involves recruiting volunteer Mentors who will be matched with a youth Mentee. Volunteer Mentors agree to meet with their Mentee at the Chapter for at least one hour per week. Besides offering friendship and a listening ear, Mentors and Mentees will engage in a variety of fun and meaningful activities individually and in groups. With It has been demonstrated that a trusting relationship with a caring adult can have a life-changing effect on a young person.
Research data indicates that mentoring programs have reduced first-time drug use by almost 50% and first-time alcohol use by 33%. In addition, mentored youth displayed greater confidence in their schoolwork and improved their academic performance.
