How it began: The Stamford Church of Christ's Buddy/Mentor program began eight years ago in the fall of 1994 because of a need and a vision to reach out to the children of the inner city of Bridgeport and give them encouragement, guidance and hope that they will become their best and reach for their highest dreams and aspirations. That first year, we had 8 mentors paired with 8 buddies and we met together once a month in a very unstructed manner. We were kind of flying by the seat of our pants to be honest and learning as we went along. The next year we grew to 15 mentors and and buddies and realized we would need to structure our time together more efficiently. By the third year, we had grown yet again to 25 mentors and buddies.

Now: This year, the eighth year of Buddy/Mentor, we have grown to 130 total participants and become officially known as Buddy/Mentor Inc. The Stamford Church continues to fully budget this program which runs November through June. One Sunday a month, the mentors and buddies meet and have lunch together and participate in swimming and an arts and crafts project. Field trips are arranged for shopping at Christmas, for bowling and a trip to church with a picnic to follow. Since the program has grown and many participants have remained in the program since it's inception, we have made distinctions amoung our buddies-

• K-6th grade-Buddy
• 7th-8th grade-Transitional Buddy
• 9th-10th grade-Junior Mentor(a former buddy who is now being trained by their mentor to mentor)
• 11th-Adult-Mentor

We presently have 10 mentors who have been a part of the program since they were in elementary school and are now mentoring their own little buddy and another 6 mentors who are Junior Mentors and are presently being trained to mentor.

Mission Statement: The mission statement of the Buddy/Mentor program is: "To demonstrate God's love and compassion through committed men and women by ministering and mentoring to inner city children, enabling them to have hope and faith in God, in themselves and in their life's goals through the support, guidance and Christian witness of thier mentors" and "The mentors minister in the name of Jesus. striving for their own deepened sense of faith and love by sharing their experiences, resources and faith in Christ."