January 3, 2010 — Mass Mentoring Partnership, a statewide organization based in Boston that aims to provide quality mentoring to youth, recently announced that it has been awarded a $25,000 grant by Staples, Inc. to support the launch of a statewide public awareness and mentor recruitment campaign.

The campaign, which kicked off on Jan. 1 in celebration of National Mentoring Month (NMM), will feature online and print advertisements running statewide throughout the month, spotlighting the need for mentors for 3000 youth.

“It is important for Mass Mentoring Partnership and our mentoring programs to capture the attention of the public around the power of mentoring,” said David Shapiro, president and chief executive officer of Mass Mentoring Partnership. “Staples’ support allows us to broaden our awareness campaign’s reach and greatly elevate visibility.”

Paul Capelli, vice president of public relations of Staples, Inc., said, “Staples looks forward to helping Mass Mentoring Partnership reach a broader audience as they champion the movement to get more caring adults to serve as mentors. National Mentoring Month is a great initiative that helps many youth realize their potential to succeed.”

On a national level, the NMM campaign is spearheaded by the Harvard Mentoring Project of the Harvard School of Public Health, MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership, and the Corporation for National and Community Service. Public service announcements featuring celebrities such as General Colin L. Powell are aired on national television by media partners including: CBS, FOX, NBC, MTV, Comcast, Time Warner, and the National Association of Broadcasters.

Mass Mentoring Partnership is the state partner for this national effort and works with its network of more than 165 youth mentoring programs throughout Massachusetts to leverage NMM to recruit more mentors and raise awareness about the need for adults to volunteer as mentors.

The advertisements promoting mentoring, which were created pro bono by Boston-based Conover Tuttle Pace, will be featured in online and print newspapers in Boston, Lowell, Brockton, and Western Massachusetts. They will highlight the enrichment experiences mentoring offers and present a call to action for more adults to become involved in working with disadvantaged youth.