Lunch Buddy
The lunch buddy initiative, in collaboration with Richland County School District One, links adult African-American men with elementary to high school students who may not have a male role model in their lives. Meetings are held an each session is 1 1/2 hours. At each meeting a relevant toic is discussed that will hopefully help the mentees in their daily lives.
Such topics include interviewing techniques, resume preparation, obtaining an keeping good credit, entrepreneurism and career choices, investments in the stock market and other securities, and a series of motivational talks. This program runs concurrent with the school year. Six schools and over 150 students participate in this program annually. The number of student participans who enrolled in an institution of higher learning increased by 20% becasue of participating in the program.