Match Spotlight
Recent Match Spotlight Posts
One Year Anniversary: Langes & Gio
At Kids ‘n Kinship, we talk a lot about how the youth in our program benefit from being matched with a mentor because the statistics are strong for mentored youth: 92% more likely to volunteer regularly in their communities 85% say this key relationship has helped...
Match Story from a Guardian’s Perspective
Match Story from a Guardian's Perspective Our journey with Kids ‘n Kinship started when I recognized that J was yearning for a male relationship and I wanted to see what I could do to help fill this need. Jerod visited us and asked both J and I questions about what we...
One Year Anniversary: Match Spotlight
"It’s been a great year building a relationship with my mentee, Elijah. We’ve shared some really fun experiences and built a strong connection along the way. Trying new things together has been especially meaningful — playing WhirlyBall, for example, was a first for...
THREE Year Anniversary: Match Spotlight
My Mentee is also My Mentor by Charlotte Cleveland Nearly three years ago, I picked up my new mentee armed with hammocks so we could enjoy the late summer afternoon. Setting up a hammock is something I had done before, yet on this day, with 11-year-old Keidi...
SUN ThisWeek Article
We're grateful to the SUN Thisweek for helping us share how Kids 'n Kinship has been connecting mentors with exceptional youth for more than five decades, including this incredible story of how both Quentin's mentors the Haydens as well as his mom Cameo's mentor Chris...
Lauren Lupkowski wins Mentor MN Award
On Friday, June 27, MENTOR Minnesota hosted an inaugural celebration to recognize incredible individuals and programs that support mentoring in Minnesota. Lauren Lupkowski, a Pen Pal and alumni mentor of two previous mentoring connections with Kids ‘n Kinship, won an...
Two Year Anniversary: Individual Match Spotlight
Happy 2nd Anniversary to this Amazing Match! From the Mentee: “One of the highlights with Joe this past year would be I got to experience building a computer with him. It was a fun project to work on with him and I really enjoyed it. I’m really grateful to have...
SIX Year Anniversary: Match Spotlight
Happy 6th Anniversary to this Incredible Match! This match is still going strong after SIX years! A typical week for this match includes dinner and games. A fun new activity this year has been going to the gym together. We are so grateful to Sara and Don for the...
Three Year Anniversary: Family Match
Celebrating 3 YEARS! Three years goes by in a blur, but it's this year when Khasiem is turning into a teenager alongside our two older kids that I've started to appreciate the longevity of our match. One day we picked Khasiem up, and we'd been on vacation and hadn't...
Don & Jerehmiah – One Year Matched!
Thanks, Don, for sharing what this first year matched has meant to you! Volunteering as a Kid's and Kinship mentor has offered me a meaningful, low stress way to stay engaged and contribute to my community. This involvement has provided an added sense of...
Recent Posts
Thank You, Silas
I wanted to personally share that Silas has made the decision to move on from Kids 'n Kinship and will be concluding his time with the organization on June 12. While we are saddened to see him leave, we are incredibly grateful for the time, talent, and heart he has...
One Year Anniversary: Langes & Gio
At Kids ‘n Kinship, we talk a lot about how the youth in our program benefit from being matched with a mentor because the statistics are strong for mentored youth: 92% more likely to volunteer regularly in their communities 85% say this key relationship has helped...
Rick’s Bike Sale in Sun ThisWeek
We're always so grateful for the press we get from the Sun Thisweek especially when it helps us show appreciation for all that Rick's Bike Sale and Dick's Valley Service, Inc do to support DARTS Healthy Aging Solutions and Kids 'n Kinship . We're so thankful to be a...
Rick’s Bike Sale on Fox 9
Rick's Bike Sale was up bright and early to go live on Fox 9 to promote Rick's Bike Sale. Big thanks to Media Relations Agency for securing the publicity! Check out Rick's interview and the crew hard at work getting those 500 bikes ready to sell to support DARTS and...
Spring 2026 Newsletter
CLICK HERE for our Spring Newsletter 2026