National Mentoring Month is upon us which, upon reflection, might lead you to ask: Why become a mentor in the first place? Does mentoring only benefit the mentee, or does it benefit the mentor, as well? These are              questions we are thinking about at Kars4Kids, since the fruits of our labor as a car donation program, go toward underwriting mentoring efforts.

We all know that warm glow that comes with helping someone. It seems that the glow we experience when giving targeted social support (such as mentoring youth), occurs as a result of lowering activity in the amygdala region of the brain. This part of the brain is associated with fear and stress responses, so limiting activity there can only be a good thing.

The glow we feel when we help a young person then, may well be contributing to our emotional and physical well-being. “Humans thrive off social connections and benefit when they act in the service of others’ well-being,” say the authors of this study on the neurobiological effects of helping others.

So why become a mentor? Because aside from giving you a warm glow and actually helping youth, mentoring kids may actually improve your health.

(Sounds like a win/win situation to us!)

Wolters Kluwer Health. “How does helping people affect your brain? Study shows neurobiological effects of giving social support.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 30 August 2018. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180830125128.htm.