Youth Impact Announces Name Change to Mid Valley Mentors

Name change and rebranding to help support increased volunteer recruitment in 2010

Salem, OR – January 5, 2010 – Youth Impact, a not-for-profit providing mentor services based in Salem, OR, announces its official name change to “Mid Valley Mentors”, reinforcing the agency’s commitment to provide mentor services to Marion and Polk Counties.

“The decision to change the name was based on the need for increased volunteer recruitment and the desire to clear ly reflect our services in our name,” says Mid Valley Mentors Executive Director; Sarah Spinks. “Last year, the request for youth volunteer mentors increased 102%; from 45 in 2008 to 92 in 2009. As our need for mentors continues to rise and social programs are cut from government budgets, the demand for volunteers in all organizat ions continues to grow, making recruitment that much more challenging. We project the necessity to recruit well over 100 volunteers to meet our community’s needs in 2010. Volunteer recruitment is Mid Valley Mentors biggest challenge as we work to provide participants with mentors. The new name is just one of many strategies to increase awareness of our mentor services and attract new volunteers,” Spinks added.

In late November, Mid Valley Mentors hired Suzanne Jorgensen as Communications and Development Director; a newly created posit ion. Ms. Jorgensen has a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Washington and relocated from Washington D.C. where she gained six years of extensive experience in both corporate and non-profit marketing & communications. In this new role Jorgensen is responsible for rebranding the organization, developing a broad communications strategy to recruit 100% more mentors and increase donor giving in 2010 while raising awareness about offender reentry issues. “This organization has been providing an invaluable service to the Mid-Willamette Valley for more than six years now,” Jorgensen explains, “and it has tremendous potential for growth. Building name recognition within the region as the go-to agency for volunteer mentor opportunities and serving more members of our community will help us realize this potential as we work together with the community.”

To support these ambitious goals, Mid Valley Mentors has hired The Third River to build a new website that will make the volunteer sign-up process more streamlined, provide easy-to-use resources for mentors and encourage online giving. The new website http://MidValleyMentors.org will officially launch this Monday, January 18, 2009.

About Mid Valley Mentors

Mid Valley Mentors is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency in Salem Oregon providing mentor services to Marionand Polk counties since 2004. Mid Valley Mentors recruits, trains and matches volunteer mentors with at-risk youth through its Juvenile Enrichment through Mentoring (JEM) program and formerly incarcerated adults through its Reentry Solutions Program (RSP). Mid Valley Mentors is dedicated to engaging at-risk or system-involved individuals in programs that educate, motivate and empower participants to create a
positive life for themselves. For more information, please visit http://MidValleyMentors.org

Media Contact:
Suzanne Jorgensen, Mid Valley Mentors
503-584-4827 SJorgensen@co.marion.or.us

http://midvalleymentors.com