Could You Be A Mentor?

Are you willing to give of yourself in order to help a child?  Are you willing to mentor children of our fallen heroes?

Mentors can play a critical role in helping children grieving the loss of a loved one in the Armed Forces, and TAPS, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, is recruiting 300+ mentors to help at its 14th annual Good Grief Camp being held Memorial Day Weekend near Washington, DC.

Heather Campagna, the director of the Good Grief Camp for 2008, says that finding mentors with a military background is critical to the camp’s success and she needs 300+ mentors on-site for the three days, so each child will have a special friend to talk to and lean on and understand that they are not alone and that the military still cares for them. Training is provided and mandatory prior to mentoring at the camp. Veterans, those in active duty, and military family spouses are encouraged to consider being a mentor.

More than 500 surviving family members and 300 children are expected to attend the TAPS National Seminar and Good Grief Camp. Many of the event’s attendees have suffered recent losses in Iraq and Afghanistan.

To apply to be a mentor, go to the TAPS website at http://www.taps.org/.  Click on the banner for the 2008 National Seminar and Good Grief Camp, or go to events to select it.

Families who have lost a loved one serving in the Armed Forces may sign up through http://www.taps.org/ to attend the National Seminar and Good Grief Camp. Workshops and seminars are held concurrently with the good grief camps that are designed to help bereaved families cope with their losses and develop new support networks.

Comments

[denise]

Hey what a great idea i am in calif right now but will be on the east coast by end of may 08 keep me posted k?

[denise]

Hey what a great idea i am in calif right now but will be on the east coast by end of may 08 keep me posted k?

[Ami Neiberger-Miller]

Thanks for running this story. It is especially helpful for mentors to be current or recently active duty military service people. Many of these children are missing their dad, and desperately want a military guy they can roughhouse with and talk to.