Lenny Gold is Talbot Mentors’ featured volunteer for January’s National Mentoring Month. He and fellow mentors will greet those interested in volunteering with the organization during an Open House January 18 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Talbot Mentors office at 108 Maryland Avenue in Easton.
Talbot Mentors Executive Director Paige Jernigan described Gold as “a great example of what a mentor should be,” and welcomed his advocacy for the organization and advice for volunteers.
Gold, 68, is an engineering consultant working in the environmental field, and is married with two grown children, one grandchild and two more on the way. He has been involved with Talbot Mentors almost since the organization’s founding, but his experience as a mentor began long before he joined Talbot Mentors.
Originally from Brooklyn, Gold got involved with the Big Brothers program in Baltimore County after moving to Maryland. He first became a mentor to an eight-year-old boy with a brother and sister in a household headed by a single mother. Gold eventually developed relationships with each of the children and still keeps in touch with them all, now adults with children of their own.
Gold moved to Easton in 1985. When his son was in high school and daughter in college, he saw an ad for Talbot Mentors and met with Phil Kirby, founder of the organization. Kirby matched Gold with his first Talbot Mentors mentee. After that young man graduated from the program about six years ago, Gold was matched with his current mentee, Tyjrae Banks.
One of the pitfalls faced by new mentors, said Gold, is the expectation that they will see an immediate impact. “As a mentor, you try to do the best you can,” he noted, “but you are seeing only a part of the child’s life.” He added that the biggest difference in each of his mentees’ lives has been made by their individual family situations.
Gold said that there were circumstances that pushed his first Talbot Mentors mentee in the wrong direction. “I always felt like he was a good person with a lot of potential and I stuck with him,” he explained. “He had some problems, but is doing really well now.”
He described his current mentee’s home life as very supportive. “Tyjrae’s mom is terrific. I’m just supplementing what she is doing.”
A mentor may not see the impact that he or she is making until years later. It was not until Gold’s first Big Brothers mentee was about 30 years old that he said to Gold, “I never told you this, but I always appreciated that you never asked me about details of my family situation.” Gold said that it was only then that the young man told him much more about his early life.
“Typically, teenagers don’t give a lot of feedback,” added Gold. “The truth of it is, you may never see the impact you make. But consistently showing up and being supportive makes a big difference to the kids, even if they don’t show it.”
Gold sees his relationship with Tyjrae maturing as his mentee, now a junior in high school, is getting older. Having seen his own two children through college preparation, he now is helping make the process less intimidating to Tyjrae and his mother.
To Gold, it is that commitment to trying to make small differences on an individual basis that is required of those who volunteer to be mentors. “You can’t take it lightly when starting to work with a young person,” he emphasized. “You really have to make an effort and be consistent. Some people look at the big picture and try to do big things. Me, I feel more comfortable working on a smaller scale, one on one.”
That effort, Gold stressed, is fully supported by the Talbot Mentors organization and staff. “You are not out there on an island,” he noted. “There are people to help.”
Gold encourages anyone considering becoming a mentor to attend the Open House and learn more about the program. “Mentoring is definitely worthwhile,” he said. “It is not a tremendous time commitment. It’s just having someone else consistently in the child’s life, who they can depend on. It does make a difference. If you do something to help a few people directly, they will pass it along.”
All are welcome to attend the Talbot Mentors Open House. No registration is necessary. Light refreshments will be offered.
For more information, to make a contribution, or to volunteer as a mentor, call Talbot Mentors at 410-770-5999 or visit www.talbotmentors.org.
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