Anaheim cop spearheads youth mentoring program
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| HOUSE RAFFLE The Mentors for Youth raffle is July 15, with a drawing location yet to be announced. Prize: The winner can choose between a 4,000-square-foot home in Valencia in the Arnold Palmer golf course community (worth $2 million) or a cash prize of $1.5 million. Ticket cost: $200. Deadline: June 15. Information: 877-270-2007; www.mentorsforyouth.org or www.allcharityhouseraffle.com. |
Officer Sean McCune, founder of Mentors for Youth, plans house raffle to advance nonprofit's work.
By ERIK ORTIZ
STAFF WRITER
As a patrol officer for the Anaheim Police Department, Sean McCune said he regularly comes across kids on the street, the kind of kids tangled up in drug use and criminal activity, hustling without much thought to the future.
McCune quickly realized that many of them didn't have parents or an adult to guide them.
In 2001, he decided to do something and founded a nonprofit organization called Mentors for Youth, which serves Anaheim, Fullerton, Orange and Santa Clarita.
The group works with children ages 13-17 to help transition them into adulthood with programs ranging from tutoring to locating a job to how to become financially responsible.
In July, Mentors for Youth will holds its first major raffle. The winner will get to choose either a custom-built home in Valencia worth $2 million or a cash prize of $1.5 million.
Q:How did the idea for a house raffle come about?
A:We realize that nonprofits are competing for brand and name recognition, and we're hoping to get more interest in what we're doing. But the twist in the house raffle is that we're designating $50 from every $200 ticket to go to any charity that the person wants. We're trying to get all nonprofits in California on board.
Q:Why did you start Mentors for Youth?
A: I was seeing the street kids in the foster care system who were just being warehoused and they weren't getting the services that they needed. Something needed to be done after I saw the kinds of places they were staying at. A lot of these kids were using drugs, prostituting themselves, breaking into people's cars. I got sick and tried of seeing that sort of thing.
Q:What have you accomplished through your group?
A:We've helped hundreds of kids and their families. We provide them with food, clothing, shelter, medical, dental. We provide them with all of their needs. A great thing is we help some of them go to college. We're doing a scholarship program taking nominations for at-risk kids or kids with disabilities, and we're going to pay 100 percent of whatever they need, whether it's tuition, books, lodging. We want them to succeed.
Contact the writer: 714-704-3782 or eortiz@ocregister.com
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