Bolder Options in Rochester

Bolder Opitions is a cutting edge mentor program that has been running in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Metro area for 17 years. And after those 17 years of sucess Darrell Thopmpson is bringing his leadership to us. We may remember him as the star running back from John Marshall, turned MN Gopher, turned Green Bay Packer, but since his retirement from the NFL Darrel has been building strong and caring communities with his leadership in Bolder Options.

The program pairs at risk youth between the ages of 10 and 14 who have been referred to the program by social services, probation officers, teachers, social workers, and other youth servicing organizations with their individual mentors. They then work to create three goals to work on over the course of the year that involve three 5Ks or 3 bike rides, a learning health goal, and a social health goal involving volunteer work.

Through races the youth learn how to work for and achieve a goal by continuing to put one foot in front of the other until they cross that finish line – surpassing their perceived limits, through their accomplishments and the trust created within their mentor/mentee relationship the youth gains the confidence and the tools they need to continue to succeed throughout their life.

“We’re not looking for our kids to break world records in these races, just a good attitude about getting out, being active, accomplishing a goal, and applying those healthy habits to other aspects of their lives” says Thompson. The program has a success rate at 22% above the national average, with 100% of its kids claiming that they believe Bolder Options cares about them in a recent survey. “That’s our goal,” says Thompson “creating a caring community of adults to help our kids succeed in all of life’s races.”

Want to help out? Become a mentor, Bolder options is in need for new mentors, esspecially male mentors. They have more kids than they have adults to help them out. Please give them a call if you are interested. Otherwise, they want the kids to be invollved in community service, and any and all ideas are welcome.

To contact Bolder Options in Rochester, call 507-993-3727 or E-Mail them at Rochester@bolderoptions.org. You can also check out their website at www.bolderoptions.org

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