By Jim Worster, volunteer mentor and Advent Software employee

Every Wednesday my co-workers and I leave our computers, put away our phones and squeeze into a few cars for a drive down to the Bayview. For the next hour we get a powerful reminder of what matters.

Over ten years ago, my employer, Advent Software, started a partnership with Dr. Charles Drew College Preparatory Academy.  Today, around 25 of my co-workers take an hour a week to mentor and tutor students. An hour doesn’t seem like much, but those sixty minutes have enabled us to affect the lives of children in our community and improved our lives for the better.

Any skepticism I had about the power of an hour was squashed a few years ago when I met Chris.* The first day I met him, his teacher pulled me aside. Chris had recently witnessed a murder and was living in a hotel as part of a witness protection program. We didn’t talk much during our first meeting. But we kept up our weekly visits. And then one day, I walked into his classroom for our Wednesday chat, and he turned around and gave me the biggest smile I’ve ever seen. He knew I was there just for him.  What he didn’t realize was that I was as excited, if not more, for our visit.

Some days I get bogged down at work, and I consider skipping out.  But I go anyways, and I always come back to work refreshed. Work problems feel small and more manageable after spending an hour making a meaningful connection with a child.

I feel good about working for an employer that lets its employees take an hour each week to give back to our community. Volunteering has also made me closer to my colleagues.  The conversations we have on our ride back from the school are always deeper and more thoughtful than any water cooler chit chat.  We’ve brought our enthusiasm for this experience back to the workplace and routinely do presentations about school volunteering during new hire orientations. Advent has become part of the Charles Drew family.

If you or your employer is interested in learning more about the opportunities to develop a school partnership contact Suzy Varadi at the San Francisco Education Fund or check out the organization’s website.

Want to volunteer as a mentor? Apply here. New mentors need to participate in in one  New Volunteer Orientation and one Mentor 1 training before they begin their service. Then one to two months into their service they should attend the Mentor 2 workshop for extra support.  All trainings take place at 727 Golden Gate Avenue (between Franklin and Gough).

Here are some upcoming training sessions:

Mentor 1 Workshop:

October 2. 1:30 - 3:30 p.m.

New Volunteer Orientation:

October 6, 6:00 - 8:30 p.m.

October 12, 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.

You can check out a full calendar of upcoming volunteer workshops here.

*Name changed for student's privacy.