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<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cRay is respectful, caring and immediately puts a kid at ease just by being himself. His two mentees couldn\u2019t have more different personalities, yet in each friendship he is able to engage with authenticity and openness,\u201d said Katie Lackler. \u201cHe is an excellent mentor and the kind of volunteer that our program\u2019s success is built upon.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cHaving gone through it before, I had no expectations this time around,\u201d said Ray when asked what was different with his second match in the Mentoring Program. \u201cI know now that it\u2019s about the mentee, not me. In doing this, I do get something out of it. I get to see a young man grow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ray and Mike share a love of sports of all kinds. They often go bowling, play basketball, catch a movie together or get lunch. One of their favorite experiences in the past year was having a steak dinner for Mike\u2019s birthday and watching sports games all afternoon. They both agreed it was a \u201ctotal guy experience.\u201d <\/p>\n
Foster mom Ricki, couldn\u2019t be happier to have Ray in their lives. \u201cRay is a lifesaver. Spending time with Ray is so positive for him, he\u2019s so consistent and that\u2019s what he needs. He looks up to Ray and he enjoys being with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mike says, \u201cRay is nice. He\u2019s really good to talk to and he understands what I\u2019m going through.\u201d <\/p>\n
Ray works full time as a Project Manager at Delicato Family Vineyards and raised his own three children in Valley Springs. He encourages those who may be considering becoming mentors to take the leap. \u201cYou will get as much, if not more, out of it as the mentee. That is the honest truth. Mentoring these two boys has opened me up to see things from perspectives other than my own.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the world of this program!\u201d said Ricki. \u201cThe Mentoring Program has amazing support–it makes such a world of difference for these kids.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best part about mentoring is that it gets me focused on something outside of myself,\u201d said Ray. To new mentors, Ray says, \u201cGo to the trainings! Being with other mentors is so helpful. And tell staff when there is a problem. Tap them as a resource. Your issue won\u2019t be unique. Their advice and guidance almost always worked,\u201d said Ray jokingly.<\/p>\n
There are wonderful kids waiting for mentors in all parts of Calaveras County. The Calaveras Youth Mentoring Program is particularly seeking mentors for youth in Valley Springs and Angels Camp. For more information about the Calaveras Youth Mentoring Program, call Katie Lackler at (209) 736-6078 or visit the program online at www.calaverasmentoring.org. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Angels Camp, CA…The Calaveras Youth Mentoring Program is honored to announce Valley Springs resident Ray Pekarcik as its Mentor of the Month for May 2019. Ray has been matched with his 14-year-old mentee, Mike, for over a year, but he has been a part of the Mentoring Program since 2012. Ray was matched with his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":79621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,20,4,1,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-angels-camp","category-featured","category-life-style","category-news","category-valley-springs","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Mike-and-Ray-1-Year-Anniversary-2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=79620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/79621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=79620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=79620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=79620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}