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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Online resources match mentors, opportunities

Naaman Cordova- Muenzberg, 24, credits the youth director at his church in Florence, Colo., for opening his teen eyes to the value of public service.

His commitment to service continued while he attended Gonzaga University. So after graduating, it was easy to say yes to an AmeriCorps VISTA stint working in Spokane for the statewide group Washington State Mentors. His marching orders: Create an Inland Northwest mentoring database. Nearly two dozen agencies are listed there now.

Cordova-Muenzberg invites any Inland Northwest agency and organization with mentoring needs to contact him to be included in the database. If adults hope to mentor but are uncertain where to start, the database will help narrow the possibilities. The mentoring database is being created in collaboration with United Way in Spokane and Kootenai counties. Their Web sites list additional mentor information and volunteer opportunities.

Mentoring database: www.inlandnwmentoring.org

Spokane County United Way: unitedwayspokane.org

United Way of Kootenai County: kootenaiunitedway.org

Washington State Mentors: washingtonmentoring.org

Contact Naaman Cordova-Muenzberg: ncordovamuenzberg@ wamentors.org or (509) 838-6581, ext. 112

This week’s events

Monday

•Our Kids: Our Business Community Kick-Off. Noon-4 p.m. Coeur d’Alene Library, 702 E. Front Ave. (208) 292-2681.

Tuesday

•1-2-3 Magic: Effective Methods to Start and Stop Child Behaviors. 10 a.m.- noon. Spokane’s Northeast Community Center, 4001 N. Cook St. For information: scancenter.org or (509) 458-7445.

•Film festival featuring winners of film, photo and collage depictions of the goals of Our Kids: Our Business. 7 p.m. Gonzaga University’s Jepson Center. For information: ppalumbo@gonzaga.edu or anarciso@gonzaga.edu.

•Foster parent orientation, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Washington’s Children and Family Services, 1313 N. Atlantic St., Suite 2000. Informational meeting for people interested in becoming foster parents. (509) 499-2456 or e-mail: asherman@lcsnw.org.

Wednesday

•Our Kids: Our Business celebration. Pinwheel display, corner of Greene Street and Mission Avenue, at 7:30 a.m., followed by the 9 a.m. kick-off event at the Spokane Community College Lair. (509) 279-6911.

Thursday

•Big Brothers Big Sisters informational open house. 4:30-7:30 p.m. Coeur d’Alene Library, 702 E. Front Ave. (208) 667-0975.

•Annual Appreciation Dinner featuring Dr. Andrew Agwunobi, chief executive officer of Providence Health Care. 6 p.m. Northeast Community Center, 4001 N. Cook St. $12 per ticket. RSVP: (509) 487-1603.

Friday

•Safety Rally sponsored by the Arc of Spokane, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at the STA Plaza in downtown Spokane. For information: Theresa Fears, (509) 328-6325.