You can make a difference by investing time in the life of a child. Each day, volunteers are spending time in the various programs in order to make a difference.

Can you? Join us for an afternoon of tutoring in our after school program. Agree to be a mentor for one of our students. Help be a coach in one of the sports programs.

The Search Institute says one of the greatest ingredients for success for a student is multiple adults investing time in their lives…will you?

You can change a life, one hour at a time.

Jay

Good friend, Gary Varvel, editorial cartoonist for the Indianapolis Star, has been drawing full page depictions every Thursday. These pages are helping unmask many truths behind why people are stuck in poverty. Last week, he spent a day riding the bus to find the challenges most families endure while trying to access public transportation. His work is also telling the stories of those who have broken free from some of their past hardships. The title, Path to Hope, tells it all. Your help is making it possible to create more paths. Thank you.

Carpe diem

Jay

Months of planning and in just a few short days, Summer Excel will be over for the summer of 2010. As my grandmother said,”the older you get, the faster the sand in the hourglass flows…” It was just a blink, a moment in time and now soon we will head into our school year programs.

As the name says, it was a summer for our students to EXCEL, to move forward, and to thrive. Unfortunately, statistics tell us that urban students will regress educationally during the summer months… but not for our students.

We have begun testing and monitoring the academic progress of our student’s, and the results are strong. We are sending our students back to school primed for success. We also are sending them back with the items, such as clothes and school supplies, needed for success. I can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate the support that enables us to make this investment in our kids lives… it will bring about a great return.

Carpe Diem

Jay

I am so excited.

I am thrilled to see our Summer Excel program in action… hundreds of children and teens are at our four locations busy with all kinds of activities. One of the most thrilling parts for me is that six of those who are working in the camp are our own students. Students who themselves have been part of the past camps… and now they give back. How thrilling for us to see their growth.

Whether they are in reading circles, playing drums, going swimming, or just asking for prayer, we see the wonderful opportunity to see these kids grow in tremendous ways. To see our own help lead the way makes me thrilled.

Jay

Maybe you have seen our latest newsletter… with the picture of 15 colleges and the 30+ students who are attending them. These students have been involved with Shepherd Community and partner ministries for the past several years. We celebrate their exciting journey, as well as four more students headed off to college this fall.

We recognize that our support cannot end with sending them off. We must continue to work with them through the many hurdles they will face once on campus. We are thankful to those who have supported our efforts to help our students stay in school.

Our efforts don’t end at high school graduation. It just takes us to the next part of our continuum of care. You can help send more children through it.

Jay

For our middle school youth, they thought we were crazy. Last fall we discussed with them about running the mini marathon. That first run was not a fun one….but they could not see the idea of running 13.1 miles. Quite honestly, I think I understand. Yet, their miles increased and their excitement grew, and then came the day.

The Indianapolis Star ran a front page article featuring our kids and their mini-marathon effort. Off and running… each student completing the mini and accomplishing a dream that seemed much too big. They never figured it was possible for them. Yet, they accomplished it and hopefully set a course for life of bigger dreams and much bigger accomplishments.

Jay