C/O Thomas K. Burke wears many hats. Not only is he the 2007 Corrections Officer of the Year for the Charles Egeler Reception and Guidance Center (RGC), he is the acting chaplain there and very active in the Jackson community. He has a special love for mentoring, and because of that organized the upcoming Mentoring Awareness March in Jackson.

Burke's call to mentoring came four years ago at a barbershop. It was there that he heard his barber speak harshly to a young man, telling him to get up and out into the parking lot to start his cleaning for community service.

When Burke asked his barber if picking up trash was teaching the young man anything about service to his community, Burke was invited to talk to him. Burke then told the young man he'd meet him the next day to take him to visit his community and do some real service.

The young man's mother agreed to allow Burke to work with her troubled son. A Jackson Police Department sergeant referred Burke to Florence Crittenton Services, an organization that works with teens who are pregnant, homeless or otherwise in crisis. The young man disappeared before Burke could get him enrolled in any of the programs there, but Burke's desire to mentor had already been solidified. He decided that mentoring through an organized program to help troubled youth was what he wanted to do, so he signed up to mentor a homeless teenage boy.

Burke eventually started his own mentoring program through the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) and Florence Crittenton, called "Stopping Time." He designed the program to recruit MDOC employees to mentor at-risk youth. His commitment led to a seat on the Florence Crittenton Board of Directors, where he serves as vice-president. At Florence Crittenton alone, less than 8% of the volunteer mentors over the past two years have been men.

At Big Brothers Big Sisters of Jackson County, twice as many boys are waiting to be matched with a positive role model and friend as girls, and these young men wait twice as long to be matched. These statistics are mirrored nationwide, which illustrates the need for increased awareness and involvement.

Burke is shown here with Tony Dungy, coach of the Indianapolis Colts football team. Dungy is a Jackson native and was in town at the Jackson High School Football Clinic. He agreed to film a public service announcement to draw more attention to mentoring and the Mentoring Awareness March.

The Mentoring Awareness March will be hosted by the Mentoring Collaborative of Jackson County. It is scheduled for July 28 at 10 a.m. at Bucky Harris Park. The march will begin at 10:15 and proceed to Loomis Park, concluding with a picnic at 2 p.m. The day will feature celebrities, entertainment, games and information on mentoring and volunteering. Free bus service will be available. For more information, contact the Jackson Non-profit Support Center at (517) 796-4750.

Michigan Department of Corrections, FYI Newsletter 071207