Whereas the goals of National Mentoring Month are— (1) to raise awareness of mentoring; (2) to recruit individuals to mentor; (3) to celebrate the powerful impact of caring adults who volunteer time for the benefit of young people; and (4) to encourage organizations to engage and integrate quality in mentoring into the efforts of the organizations; Whereas young people across the United States make everyday choices that lead to the big decisions in life without the guidance and support on which many other people rely; Whereas a mentor is a caring, consistent presence who devotes time to a young person to help that young person— (1) discover personal strength; and (2) achieve the potential of that young person through a structured and trusting relationship; Whereas quality mentoring— (1) encourages positive choices; (2) promotes self-esteem; (3) supports academic achievement; and (4) introduces young people to new ideas; Whereas mentoring programs have shown to be effective in helping young people make positive choices; Whereas young people who meet regularly with mentors are 46 percent less likely than peers to start using illegal drugs; Whereas research shows that young people who were at risk for not completing high school but who had a mentor were, as compared with similarly situated young people without a mentor— (1) 55 percent more likely to be enrolled in college; (2) 81 percent more likely to report participating regularly in sports or extracurricular activities; (3) more than twice as likely to say they held a leadership position in a club or sports team; and (4) 78 percent more likely to pay it forward by volunteering regularly in the communities of young people; Whereas 90 percent of young people who were at risk for not completing high school but who had a mentor said they are now interested in becoming mentors themselves