2022 - A Year to Honor, Celebrate, and Anticipate.
In my office, I have the picture of the man who founded MentorKids 25 years ago, Orv Krieger. I did not know Orv personally (he passed away in 2003, two years before I joined MentorKids) but I keep his picture to remind me of a few important things.
First, we stand on the shoulders of giants who have gone before us.
While Orv spearheaded the founding of the organization in 1997, he did it in collaboration with many of his friends, business partners, and family members. Since then, so many amazing people and groups have come around the ministry as board members, staff members, financial supporters, prayer partners, volunteers, ministry partners, and business partners. During this special 25th year celebration, we wish to honor the people and groups God has used to build, sustain, and grow MentorKids over the years.
Second, MentorKids does not belong to me.
In fact, it didn’t belong to Orv either. At age 78, at the tail end of his successful business career, God touched Orv’s heart in a powerful way.
Orv felt a passion to reach young people in an effort to keep them out of prison so that they could live healthy, productive lives and live out their full, God-given potential through one-on-one mentoring. Fueled by this passion and calling, Orv founded Phoenix MatchPoint, which was renamed MentorKids USA in 2004. Orv knew, and I remind myself every day, that our calling comes from God and this ministry belongs to God. As we honor those who came before us, we also want to celebrate the new calling God has given MentorKids to impact lives through the Promise Neighborhood model.
Third, when God calls, we can step out in faith.
Orv was 78 when he founded MatchPoint. 78! Think about that. He could have made many excuses to NOT start a nonprofit. He could have spent his time with his wife, Mary, visiting his 12 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, golfing, or, quite frankly, doing whatever he wanted.
But God called him...and he stepped forward in faith at age 78. Today, 25 years later, we sense a strong and clear calling to move forward with the Promise Neighborhood model of building up young leaders who are equipped to impact their own neighborhoods, creating a cycle of positive sustainable change within struggling neighborhoods.
As we turn 25 years old, we invite you to join us as we honor the past, celebrate the present, and step forward in faith toward an exciting and powerful future. Throughout the year we will have several hands-on and “out of the box” opportunities to engage in new ways with MentorKids. We encourage you (and ourselves) to “be like Orv” and step out in faith as, together, we change the world: One Child, One Family, One Neighborhood at a time.
Aaron Parrott, Executive Director
