Be a Mentor, Change a Life: Indian River State College Foundation Seeks Volunteers for Take Stock in Children Program

September 3, 2024 Indian River State College

FORT PIERCE, FLA (September 3, 2024) - The Indian River State College Foundation is issuing a call for volunteer mentors to support its highly successful Take Stock in Children program. This initiative helps academically motivated, low-income students achieve their dreams of higher education through mentorship, early intervention, and college scholarships.

For 28 years, the Indian River State College Foundation has changed the lives of over 1,355 young people in the Treasure Coast region through the Take Stock in Children Program. The program currently supports 173 high school students across 17 public schools and 245 college students in Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River, and Okeechobee Counties.

Mentors meet with students during school lunch periods, either in person or through the Take Stock in Children Mentor App. The program's comprehensive approach includes:

Volunteer mentorship
College success coaching
College readiness workshops
Four-year college scholarships valued at $17,000

The Take Stock in Children team at the Indian River State College Foundation recently earned their fifth consecutive Gold Luminary award, recognizing their outstanding achievement of over 3,000 mentoring sessions and 500 college success coach sessions in the last school year.

To learn more about the program, visit tsic.irsc.edu. Individuals interested in becoming volunteer mentors are encouraged to contact Program Director Karen Aldana at (772) 462-7252 or kaldana@irsc.edu.

About Indian River State College Foundation: Since 1965, the Indian River State College Foundation has enhanced access and quality of education for IRSC students. Its focus is to attract and manage private contributions from individuals, organizations, businesses, and private foundations to support IRSC's mission. Managed by a voluntary Board of Directors of business and civic leaders from all four counties served by IRSC, the Foundation is a private non-profit entity recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization and by the State of Florida as a direct-support organization for the benefit of IRSC. As a partner in building a better community, IRSC Foundation promotes higher education with student scholarships, support of instructional programs, technology grants, and new and improved facilities.

About Take Stock in Children: Take Stock in Children is a statewide program that provides academically qualified students from low-income families with college scholarships, volunteer mentors, and long-term support. The IRSC Foundation serves as the lead agency for Indian River, Martin, St. Lucie, and Okeechobee counties.