The Lasting Impact of Mentoring

After 10 Years, Mentor Reunites with YouthFriend

DeeAnn Stock has given her fair share of community service and then some. She realizes that volunteering directly impacts the community and that’s why she has joined forces with numerous organizations and causes over the past 25 years. But nothing has impacted her as much as her service as a YouthFriends mentor.

It’s been more than 10 years since Stock formally left the YouthFriends program, but she’s still affected by it nearly every day.

Beginning in 1996, Stock, a resident of Raytown, Mo., spent two years mentoring a young girl who was a student at Westridge Elementary School in the Raytown C-2 School District. The student was eight years old when Stock first met her. Today she is 20 years old and still keeps in touch with Stock.

This September, the two were reunited in person and Stock was able to see just what a lovely young lady her YouthFriend has become. And Stock was pleased to hear that her influence has meant a lot to her YouthFriend over the years. One acquaintance told Stock that her YouthFriend talks about her all the time and thinks of her as a second mother.

“She doesn’t know what she would have done without you all these years,” she told her.

What started out as a one afternoon a week visit of working jigsaw puzzles, playing on the monkey bars and painting, has blossomed into a meaningful and positive long-term relationship for both Stock and her YouthFriend.

“It really has been a great experience,” Stock said. “I’m just glad it all worked out.”