Last month we hosted the 8th annual Chili Cook Off and Homebrew contest. This was TRUE Mentors first year hosting the event and we can’t thank Hoboken Volunteers enough for passing along the torch. The 2017 edition was a great success – we had over 400 attendees and raised over $16,000 and gave away over $3,000 in prizes to our Chili and Homebrew winners! Congratulations to our Fan Favorite winners: Lackawanna Brewing and Slap Pork Chili! (photos credit to NJ.com). Lackawanna Brewing will have their beer brewed and on tap until supplies last at Departed Soles Brewery in Jersey City! We can’t thank our volunteers, judges and sponsors enough for helping make this event happen! Huge shout out to our event sponsors Hudson Bike Share, Hoboken Grace, Sparrow Wine, Ben & Jerry’s, H-Mag, ShopRite, Jimmy John’s,, Mason Civic League, Departed Soles and 902 Brewing. Thanks to Amanda Morrison from Don’t Sit Home, who helped raised just over $3,000 in prizes to give away to our winners!! This was her 3rd year hosting this event and we can’t thank her enough for all of her help promoting the event and securing prizes from local Hoboken businesses. 
Lastly, we want to thank our fabulous chili judges for eating #allthechili and all of our volunteers, contestants, events team and board members who helped plan and execute this amazing event! Without the support of people like you who attend our events, invite their friends, participate in the contest and volunteer to help out instead of eating and drinking all day, we want to say THANK YOU!
In March we also launched out new Mentors Matter program, where local businesses sponsor an experience at their establishment for our newest mentor/mentee matches. We welcome aboard Ben & Jerry’s, Jimmy John’s, 
and the Hoboken Historical Museum to the program! Each business is providing a unique experience for our newly formed matches to develop TRUE relationships. This is an incredible opportunity for all local businesses to make a difference in the community! For those interested, you can signup online. We are also looking for individuals or businesses to sponsor our 6 month and 12 month celebration markers. Once a relationship reaches six months, the likelihood for a successful 1-year match is very high. At the 12-month celebration, we invite the mentors to continue their relationship and celebrate in a BIG way or close the match by celebrating their last year together in a BIG way. If you are interested in sponsoring an activity or donating an experience, please email Katie Eades at katie.eades@truementors.org. In March, we had a brand new match came together for the first time. Shout out to Ben and Kayden (pictured above) who spent their first day together, having lunch together at Jimmy John’s and spending a great day together walking around Hoboken’s amazing waterfront. Thanks to Jimmy John’s for sponsoring subs through our Mentors Matter program. They are headed to Ben and Jerry’s next for a free cone and a trip to Hoboken Historical Museum is in their future!
In the month of March our teen internship program launched a new partnership with Hudson Bike Share this month and hired our newest teen intern, Tony (Azriel), to begin working for the Hudson Bike Share. Tony is one of our first mentees, joining the TRUE Mentors program over 6 years. We are very proud of how far Tony has come in those past 6 years. Hudson Bike Share has added a talented, driven youngster to their team, but don’t just take our word for it. Chris, from Hudson Bike Share said “Tony did an awesome job, very impressed. We have had a lot of ambassadors and none have picked it up that quickly.” Congratulations Tony!
And last, but not least, we welcome in our new full-time Program Director, DeShawn Singleton! DeShawn comes to TRUE Mentors after serving as the Youth Development Manager at BRICK Academy. DeShawn grew up in Hudson county in the foster care system and holds a degree in social work, bringing a unique perspective to our mentoring programs. DeShawn’s goal this year is to focus on community and family outreach, connecting more students to our mentoring programs and providing further support for our current mentors to help foster TRUE relationships. You can read more about DeShawn Singleton here. Welcome aboard, DeShawn!