Looking for another reason to donate to The Spark Campaign before 2021 ends? What if your donation could be DOUBLED?
We are so happy to announce a $15,000 dollar-for-dollar match until December 31st! Help us secure the full match amount AND achieve our $150,000 campaign goal before the year ends!
One of our long-time supporters and volunteers, Howie Fitz, has generously provided this $15,000 year-end match. He believes deeply in the importance of mentoring and the prevention work Partners is doing in Northern Colorado. Here’s a little from a recent interview, highlighting Howie’s perspective on our organization.
How did you get involved with Partners?
After I turned 40 and was feeling my age, I decided to try volunteering with Partners. I didn’t have kids of my own, so it was nice to spend time with a kid. I had my mentee from age 10 up until he was done with high school–it was very cool to go his graduation and see him graduate.
How was your experience as a Mentor? Keeping giving in the community is important. You get to see it work when you donate locally. I know it works–I saw first-hand how important the Partners program is to youth and volunteers. The impact I saw on my mentee kept me in the program for 8 years when I originally only signed up for 1! I’ve even been thinking about becoming a mentor again. For now, though, I know that my donations are being used in the best possible way to give local kids new opportunities to find their own path.
I would say I got more out of it than he did…I taught him how to ski and rock climb, he taught me how to rollerblade. It was a pretty cool deal to experience that. He didn’t have a father, which was tough on him. His mom appreciated me coming around to take him out. Every year, we decided to sign our partnership contract and continue on together.
A huge motivation for me to stay involved in the Partners program was going through the whole program with my mentee and having the chance to make a difference in his life. And I feel like I did–others went down the wrong path and he was able to stay out of trouble, which was really good.
Why did you decide to invest in Partners?
I reconnected with Partners a few years ago in a bigger way after meeting with Heather shortly after she became the director. I donated smaller amounts through the years, but I wanted to make a bigger difference. In addition to giving more each year, I drafted documents to include Partners in my will.
![Partners [Logo Reversed]](https://poweredbypartners.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/partners-horiz-no-tag-sm-rgb-color-purple.png)