Are you ready to make a lasting impact on the life of a young person?
Here is a service project that pays HUGE dividends – not just for the ones you serve but in your own heart and life!
7th Inning Stretch Middle School Mentoring and Tutoring Program for kids at risk.
In your community there are hundreds of kids between the ages of 12-14, one of the most critical and challenging ages of development. These are Middle School aged children who are in desperate need of a mentor;
• Someone they can look up to
• Someone who can help them find their identity and purpose
• Someone willing to invest a small amount of their time and experience to make a lifetime of difference in their life!
All it takes is about 2 hours of your time on a regular basis!
The program is currently being operated successfully in 24 communities. To start the award winning 7th Inning Stretch program** in your community is easier than you think!
** Winner of the State of California Department of Education Golden Bell Award (for innovation in community-based school programs) (1999); State of California Vision 20/20 Award (2001); District 5320 Best New Community Service Program (1995-96); multiple Rotary District-wide awards (1996-2012); Nominated for President of the United States National Community Service Award (finalist, 2000); selected by Rotary International as one of two “model” youth programs world-wide; promoted by R.I. to every Rotary Club (more than 32,000) world-wide (1997 & 2005).
How it got started:
In 1995, I took a look around me, and found in my community a sea of kids at risk. Not much was being done about it. Some thinking outside the box followed. What would happen, I asked, if we put men and women of character, commitment, consistency, career…and service…around middle school kids at risk? At the time, we did not know what would happen. Twenty-two years later we have the empirical evidence: we have the stories of joy, the miracles that happen every day in 7th Inning Stretch mentoring and tutoring programs around the world.
Why it works:
The heart of the program is mentoring. The kids come from severely dysfunctional homes — they show various levels of high absenteeism, low reading skills, low grades, frequent disciplinary problems, tendency toward gang activity (yes, in the 6th and 7th grades!). The 7th Inning mentors make a difference in the lives of these kids, one child at a time. And who is changed? This is community service that changes lives — the lives of the kids, the lives of the parents/caregivers, and yes, the live of the mentors/tutors!
What does it cost:
Your cost may vary depending upon your location and how big a program you envision. 7th Inning Stretch programs can begin with just one person willing to step up and make a difference as well as involve dozens of men and women willing to participate.
The largest investment is really just your time. No cash donation is required or requested of any of the mentors and tutors. The annual budget you establish covers whatever is needed beyond donations. This can be as low as a few hundred dollars or represent several thousands of dollars, depending upon the size of the program you envision. There are no administrative costs, salary, or compensation costs in any of the programs.
Your next step:
To take the next step, and to learn more about how to start a 7th Inning program, and more about how the programs work, simply sign up for our newsletter
We will schedule a no-risk conversation to share with you more details and answer your questions.
What others are saying:
“This program totally changed my life. I entered 7th Inning Stretch in 1995, failing in middle school, and in life really. I was not only tutored, I was mentored. My life was turned around. I am now an orthopedic surgeon in the East Coast of the U.S.! In 1995, when I entered 7th Inning, I couldn’t even dream this for my future. I still think about those men and women of service, who gave of themselves twice a week and changed my life; no strings attached. I will always be so very grateful.”
— Dr. Kevin C, Alum of 7th Inning Stretch
“When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw that you cared, and I wanted to be everything I could be. When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw a tear in your eye and I learned that sometimes things hurt; but it’s alright to cry. When you thought I wasn’t looking, I learned most of life’s lessons that I need to be a good person when I grow up. When you thought I wasn’t looking, I looked at you and wanted to say, ‘Thanks…for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn’t looking.'”
–Josh P, Alum of 7th Inning Stretch, age 18
“I first began tutoring in 7th Inning in 1995. I have tutored almost every week, ever since. Now, almost every day, I hear from the alum of the 7th Inning, about their lives, their successes, their gratitude. They truly send me a song! But there is more: Through this miraculous and life-changing program, I have been changed, I have been renewed. I have found renewed passion for life, renewed meaning, purpose and joy. That is the power of service!”
–Donald Clinebell, Tutor/Mentor from 1995 to Present, San Clemente, CA
“From Seattle to Santiago to San Clemente, from Bogota to Bombay the children of the world are waiting. They are the hope of the future but we — you and I — are their hope that the future will be bright.”
— Frank Devlyn, Rotary International President, 2001-02.