January marks Harvard Mentoring Project’s National Mentoring Month.

The event helps nonprofit organizations recruit mentors for young people.

“We have been working to help nonprofit organizations recruit mentors for young people at a local level,” said Susan Moses, co-director of the Harvard Mentoring Project. “It’s a way to increase the number of adults becoming formal mentors, because it is important for adults to reach out to children.”

DeKalb Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS), 14 Health Services Drive, is participating. BBBS is a nonprofit group that provides one-on-one mentoring for children. The group uses January to draw in new recruits.

“Everybody at some point in their life has a mentor,” said BBBS director Karen Orser. “It’s recognition of having that mentor, and hopefully we can recruit these mentors for our kids in need.”

BBBS has other special events for the month.

“We have a scrapbooking night at the end of the month so that we can look back at the past year,” Orser said.

Another local organization participating in mentoring programs is Hope Haven, 1145 Rushmoore Drive. Like BBBS, Hope Haven has several NIU student mentors participating in its program.

“We have a lot of NIU students coming in and mentoring our kids, whether it’d be spending time with them or just helping them do their homework,” said Hope Haven transitional coordinator Lisa Seymour.

National Mentoring Month began in 2002.