Hey everyone!

That cool kid in the picture to the left is my mentee, Alex Zhong ZeCheng. Alex goes to International High School at Lafayette in Brooklyn, and we've been paired up for about half a year now. The picture is from a bowling event we were fortunate enough to attend where Alex and other students got to meet First Lady Michelle Obama!

My firsthand experience is that iMentor is a fantastic program bringing together great students with aspirational goals, with mentors who can provide them some additional advice and support as they look to accomplish those goals. 

I'm getting a late jump on the fundraiser, but it would be fantastic if you could donate even $10 dollars. Anything you could do would be great.

Join iMentor’s Online Donor Drive
The iMentor Online Donor Drive team is a 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, our 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!

Donor Drive Makes a Difference
Funds raised will help iMentor match more than 1,800 students with mentors this year. It costs $1,000 for iMentor to provide each mentor-mentee pair with access to quality programming and resources. Every donation you give or raise—whether $10 or $1,000—will make you part of a team that is having a lasting impact on the life of a high school student.

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

Why We Do This
“[My mentor] helped me realize that if I want to succeed, I have to do better. She’s helped me learn the steps on how to become a better person and also a better student. I want to succeed.”–Emily, mentee

The donor drive is about Emily, and the thousands of students like her, who have the potential to do great things. Students in low-income communities need the support from mentors to graduate high school and succeed in college. In New York, only 37 percent of all students graduated high school college-ready in 2011. To build college-readiness for students in low-income communities, iMentor matches students with mentors who work with them one-on-one to help them graduate high school, navigate the college application process, and develop critical skills that lead to college success.

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.

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