MOULTRIE, Ga. — The Moultrie Junior Woman’s Club recently announced the January Mentor of the Month: Debbie Brown.

About 20 years ago Brown decided to start mentoring, and it is a decision she says was easy: “There is always a need. I’ve got the time and I need to do this. It’s not hard; it’s easy to do.”

Brown has mentored about seven or eight kids over the years. Some have moved away, others went on to middle school where they have decided that having a mentor “just isn’t cool anymore,” she said. No matter how long she has worked with them, she enjoys and remembers each and every one. She said she saw one of her mentees recently, now about 22, who told her that she wished Brown were still working with her even as an adult.

Currently, Brown is helping a student who she has mentored for seven years. He is in fifth grade; she frequently eats lunch with him, talks to him, reads with him, and helps him with his homework. She says his greatest strides have been in his reading abilities. Even though he is getting close to middle school, Brown hopes to continue to work with him; however, she laughs, her mentee says he wants to “keep her in the family” by “willing” her to his little brother.

Brown said she has learned not to take dependability for granted — she realizes that being a consistent and dependable adult is important. She encourages anyone who has the time to give to be a mentor because there is a need in our community and schools: “I owe it to those kids.”

The YMCA mentoring program is a school-based mentoring program working with more than 200 volunteers from the community. To find out more about how you can become a mentor in our community, contact Sarah Adams, Mentoring Director, at 985-1154 or sadams@moultrieymca.org.