Welcome to My 2012 Online Donor Drive Page!

Family, friends, and colleagues,

As some of you may know, for the last year and a half I have been involved in a great program called iMentor, in which high school students from underserved NYC communities are paired with volunteer mentors. I was fortunate enough to be matched with Erik Alvarez. He is currently a senior at Bronx Prep. A 6’2” scholar-athlete with Honduran roots, Erik loves basketball and baleadas http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baleada. As his first formal mentor, we have developed an awesome relationship. I’ve played b-ball with him and was even one of his college recommendation writers. This year, Erik has been accepted into almost every school that he’s applied to, with Central Connecticut and East Carolina as top choices.

The Donor Drive is about Erik, and the thousands of students like him who have the potential to do great things. For each mentor-mentee pair, it costs iMentor $1,000 to provide them with free access to technology tools, events, and staff support to help build strong mentoring relationships. Whether you help with $10 or $1,000, you can be part of a network of individuals making a lasting investment in the life of a high school student like Erik.

Other compelling reasons to donate:

• I will reciprocate and donate to your cause in kind, whatever that may be! So, go run your ultramarathon or grow out that beard.
• Your donation is tax-deductible.
• It just feels good to donate, and good things happen to good people.
• Erik and I have gnarly celebrity look-alikes – Kevin Durant, the NBA's leading scorer (and Erik’s favorite player) and RU-FI-OOOOOOOO. See pictures to the left.

One last thing, if you live in the NYC area and are interested in becoming a mentor, please click here for details: http://www.imentor.org/become-a-mentor

About the Online Donor Drive

The iMentor Online Donor Drive is made up of a team of dedicated group of mentors and supporters who join forces to raise awareness and funds to further iMentor’s mission to help students in low-income communities succeed in high school and college. Every year, the team launches this “friendraising campaign” by making individual pages and asking friends, family, and coworkers to give to this cause that means so much to them. You can join the team that is helping high school students in New York City build a bright future by making a page or donating to one today!

Last year, the Online Donor Drive broke iMentor’s online fundraising record and brought in more than $86,000 for iMentor’s programs—that’s enough to support 86 mentor-mentee pairs! This year, we aim to shatter that record, and with your help, raise over $125,000.

Spread the word and get everyone in your network involved in this year’s Online Donor Drive. It’s not every day that you can say you helped change a life, but today can be that day.

About iMentor

iMentor leverages the power of mentoring to help youth in low-income communities graduate high school college-ready and succeed in college. Mentors work one-on-one with students through iMentor’s online and in-person curriculum to help them navigate the college application process and build critical skills linked to college success. In New York City, iMentor partners with public schools to ensure every student in the school receives a mentor. Since 1999, iMentor has connected 7,000 students in New York City with mentors, and will match 2,400 mentor-mentee pairs this year. iMentor also provides its curriculum, technology, and best practices to more than 30 nonprofits in 20 states to help them run effective mentoring programs in the iMentor model. iMentor has been recognized through funding by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Lumina Foundation, New Profit, and the Robin Hood Foundation, and is a subgrantee of the federal Social Innovation Fund.

To learn more about iMentor, visit www.imentor.orgor check out what it takes to become a mentor. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.