Photo By Tech. Sgt. Brittany Murphy | Chase Frost, age 8 and Noah Frost, age 6, local youth with The Up Center’s Team Up...... read more read more
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U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations at Detachment 201, with the support of the 633rd Security Forces Squadron and 633rd Civil Engineering Squadron, partnered with The Up Center’s Team Up mentoring program, a non-profit organization in Hampton Roads, to mentor 13 local youth during the “Shop with a Cop” event at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Dec. 19, 2017.
The event featured a show-and-tell where the service members demonstrated to the children what they do on a daily basis to ensure security at JBLE, such as K-9 handling, Explosive Ordinance Disposal and advanced investigative techniques.
“The goal of this event was to build positive and lasting relationships between law enforcement and youth from our Hampton Roads community by exposing them to the Air Force and our law enforcement mission,” said U.S. Air Force Special Agent O, AFOSI member.
Following the show-and-tell, each child was assigned a partner for the day, with either an AFOSI Special Agent or a 633rd SFS defender who escorted them through the Base Exchange. Each child was also gifted $70 to purchase items they would like for themselves or their families for the holidays.
Many of the children sought out the opportunity to use the donations not only for themselves, but their families for the holidays.
The frost sibling for example, wandered around the Base Exchange, after finding the gifts they liked, in search of a nice smelling gift for their blind, single-mother.
After purchasing the gifts and having some of them wrapped for free outside of the entrance, the children thanked the law enforcement personnel for allowing them to purchase gifts they otherwise may have missed out on during this holiday season.
According to Midyette, Team Up provides caring adult role models to at-risk youth, ranging from age 6 to 17, in the South Hampton Roads area. There are currently 327 boys and 95 girls waiting for a mentor in the five cities in South Hampton Roads of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Suffolk and Virginia Beach.
The program is volunteer and donation based, and each mentor commits several hours a week, for at least one year, with their mentees where they offer their mentees guidance, support and encouragement.
“Amazing things happen when an adult takes an interest in a child,” said Midyette. “Studies and our own outcome assessments show that mentored youth do better in school, are more likely to go on to college, get along better with family and peers, and they are less likely to get involved with drugs. Mentoring can transform the lives of the young people in our community so they can reach their full potential.”
For more information on the Team Up mentorship program, contact Mary Midyette at 397-2121.
| Date Taken: | 12.19.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 12.22.2017 12:27 |
| Story ID: | 260054 |
| Location: | LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 103 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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