Mentoring USA puts smiles on kids and their grown-up mentors

If you're lucky enough to have had a mentor in your life, then you know first hand the support and knowledge this special relationship cultivates. Today more than ever children need the guidance and help of adult mentors as they deal with the usual pressures of growing up in a fast-paced world.

With a top neuroscientist warning that online social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace may be harmful to the development of young people, isn't it reassuring that there are programs like Mentoring USA that are all about the face-to-face. Based in New York City and founded in 1987 by Matilda Raffa Cuomo when she was first lady of the state, Mentoring USA pairs adult mentors with at-risk young people across the country.