No Fear mentoring program has been changing at-risk kids’ lives for nearly three years, and Iowa State students and staff are helping with the effort.

Of the 45 No Fear mentors, 30 are from the ISU community, said Steve Ward, director of the program. Ward said this number is one of the highest he has seen since the program started.

“Our kids come from all different walks of life, as do our mentors,” he said. “What we need is people who are good listeners and who care about young people.”

No Fear originally was created to aid juveniles who had run-ins with the law, but today many of those involved were referred to the program by counselors from their schools.

“The juvenile court system is always talking about juvenile delinquency prevention, but a lot of times there just isn’t the money for it,” Ward said. “My position and the program started with a juvenile delinquency grant.”

Mentors spend at least one hour each week with their “pals” in activities such as fishing, playing sports or just listening, he said. Most of the children wouldn’t have a chance to participate in many of the activities without their mentors.

Andrea Mardock, senior in sociology, said she and her pal spend a lot of time in the arcade, shopping or watching movies.

Mardock said mentoring is a great way to get involved.

“I have been doing this for two years now, and I really like it,” she said. “My pal really looks up to me. It just feels good because you know they appreciate it.”

Before the program was established, mentors were paired with students on an informal basis.

Now through No Fear, students are more carefully matched, Ward said.

“Most matches are gender-based, but if there is a big age difference or a request for a male or female mentor, that can be arranged as well,” he said.

Kietha Renfroe, junior in elementary education, is one of few female mentors paired up with male children.

“Because he is so young, it really doesn’t matter too much that he has a female mentor,” Renfroe said.

“We spend about an hour a week together. Lately he has been trying to collect tickets at the arcade to win a skateboard.”

Area businesses and the ISU Athletic Department also have helped out with the program, donating gift certificates and blocks of tickets for both football and basketball games, respectively.

Although the program is doing well, Ward said more mentors always are needed.

“If a male is referred to our program, they sometimes have to wait up to a year for a mentor. But females are usually matched up within three months,” he said. “It isn’t that males are bad mentors — they just don’t seem to have as much interest in the project as females do.”

Renfroe also said she encourages others to become mentors.

“It is a way to reach out to the community and to share your good experiences and the positive aspects of your life with someone that wouldn’t normally be exposed to them on a day-to-day basis,” she said.

For more information about the No Fear program, contact Ward at 233-3346.