Kids' Meal Miracle

It was the week of my last visit with my 10-year-old mentee, Sam. After four years together, he felt like family, and I couldn’t bear the thought of losing touch with him. But how could I make sure he remembered me, even after our time together ended?

- Diane Stark

Sam and I had been paired up through a mentoring program at my church when he was a first-grader. As a former teacher, I missed making an impact on young people, so as soon as I heard of this program for at-risk school kids, I signed up.

At first, it didn’t seem as if the two of us were a good match. Sam hardly looked at me; he barely spoke or smiled. I tried everything to engage him. Nothing worked. Week after week, I’d drive 30 minutes to the school, only to sit with a little boy who didn’t seem to care whether I was there or not. I even began to dread our lunches together. It felt like such a waste of time and effort. Was I helping him at all?

One day, I noticed Sam wearing a Pokémon shirt. The next week, I brought a board game featuring Pokémon characters. When I opened the box, Sam grinned from ear to ear. He dove right in and played the game with me. As I was leaving that day, he looked up at me and said, “See you next week.”