From Mentors to You...

From all of us here at Mentor's,

a very sincere THANK YOU for your efforts in

helping lift those in poverty, especially during

the holiday season. There are many things

to be thankful for and you are surely one.



THANK YOU AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Come with Mentors to the Philippines in February!

A Mentors Field Trip is truly an unforgettable experience wherein you can witness microcredit in action.

Our next trip, to the Philippines begins Friday, February 20, 2009 with a return date of Saturday, February 28. Group departure is from Salt Lake City so additional flight plans will need to be made in order to make sure that you are in Salt Lake by that Friday morning. We have an excellent travel agency in Salt Lake City (Christofferson Travel), who can arrange any special travel needs (e.g. mileage usage) and who have discovered excellent travel deals for us.

The approximate cost per person (Double Occupancy), will be $3,150, which will include airfare, hotel, meals and other ground accommodations. We can not give an exact airfare amount due to the cost changing daily (ie. Instant Purchase). However, the cost does not jump drastically within a given time frame. Please note: once airfare has been purchased, the tickets are non-refundable, non-transferable and non-changeable.

Per our travel agent, all airfare and lodging will be purchased simultaneously; therefore a $500 per person deposit is due by Monday, December 8, 2008 as an assurance that you are committed in joining us. Once all deposits are received, Mentors will then purchase the airfare and ground accommodations and will then notify you of the exact cost and balance due.

Please contact Mentors with your credit card number, expiration date, and authorization (from you) to make this deposit and the remaining purchases. We will also need the exact name that is on, or will be on, your passport.

**IMPORTANT** According to our travel agent and Homeland Security, there is a 3-4 month wait for issuance of passports – not 6 weeks like in the past. So, if you do not have a valid passport, you will need to take immediate steps to attain one. Your passport must have your legal name on it. Also, your passport MUST NOT expire sooner than 6 months after your return from this trip. If your passport will expire within 6 months of our return, you will need to renew it as soon as possible or you will not be able to board an aircraft. Or, if you have internet access, go to http://www.americanpassport.com/ for a 24 hour turnaround on your passport. This will cost additional money.

Please call Mentors’ Office Assistant, Jenny Wells, at 1-801-676-7776 with your credit card information. Below is an in-progress itinerary and information concerning the your week:

Friday, February 20, 2008
-Our travel party will meet at the Salt Lake City airport in the afternoon and depart together on a flight to Manila.

Saturday, February 21, 2008
-Jovy Guanzon, our regional manager for our Philippines partner organizations, will meet us on arrival and we will travel by bus to our hotel. Because of the long distance, we will not actually arrive until Saturday morning.

Sunday, February 22, 2008
-Breakfast at the hotel (Holiday Inn)
-Overview of Manila and a visit to the American military cemetery. Church services optional.

Monday, February 23, 2008
-We will spend the day visiting the Mentors Manila office and attending some client meetings (wherein they pledge to receive a loan, a remarkable experience).
-We will then visit a number of clients outside of the immediate Manila area.

Tuesday, February 24, 2008
-More client visits and loan officer training
-Meet in hotel lobby to have dinner with members of Mentors Manila Board of Directors.

Wednesday, February 25, 2008
-Travel to Pagsanjan Falls one of the premier tourist spots of the Philippines. More than 500 tourists from all parts of the world daily visit the town. These tourists are ferried to the enchanting Pagsanjan falls in native bancas paddled by expert boatmen. They all experience a thrilling memory of adventure, seldom surpassed in their lifetime.
-Whole day Pagsanjan Falls Tour (lunch & boatride)
-Travel to Tagaytay City. Tagaytay, located on a ridge 2,250 ft. above sea level, is a leisurely drive to the countryside south of Manila, past small coastal villages and towns; rice fields, tropical fruit orchards and coconut plantations.
-Overnight at Taal Vista Hotel

Thursday, February 26, 2008
-Breakfast at Taal Vista Hotel
-Depart hotel for a Tagaytay Day Tour. From the heights of Tagaytay, enjoy the breathtaking sight of one of the world's strangest wonders-- Taal Volcano, a volcano within a volcano and lake within a lake.
-Overnight at Taal Vista Hotel

Friday, February 27, 2008
-Breakfast at Taal Vista Hotal
-Transfer back to Manila
-Last client visit
-Overnight at Holiday Inn

Saturday, February 28, 2008
-Breakfast at hotel
-Corregidor Tour. Corregidor is an island in the entrance of the Philippines' Manila Bay. During World War II, Corregidor was the site of several battles and its fall to the Japanese forces was instrumental in the subsequent capture of the Philippines and the retreat of the United States in the early stages of the war. Currently, it is an important historic and tourist site.
-Transfer to Airport For Departure back to Salt Lake.
-Arrive in Salt Lake at 11:14 p.m.

If you need to return to the United States prior to Saturday, February 28, special arrangements can be made. We look forward to your participation in this incredible week.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Laura Bush Honored At Mentors Gala

Mentors featured the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and a special presentation by First Lady Mrs. Laura Bush at its fourth annual fundraising gala on Friday, November 7. The special event, held at the Grand America Hotel Ballroom in Salt Lake City, was entitled “Celebrating a Legacy of Hope.”

Mentors attacks poverty worldwide by providing microcredit loans, high-quality mentoring, and encouragement to hardworking micro-entrepreneurs, especially women.

Over 1,200 people attended the reception and dinner and Lloyd Newell, the voice of Music and the Spoken Word, was master of ceremonies for the night. The purpose of the event was to raise funds for Mentors partner organizations in the Philippines and Central and South America who work directly with the poor.

“It was the most inspiring event of this nature that I have ever witnessed,” said Mark L. Petersen, president and CEO of Mentors. “The importance of lifting families in poverty with a hand up and not a hand out, coupled with the power and beauty of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir touched the hearts of everyone in attendance.

“Even in difficult economic times, we far exceeded expectations in our fundraising hopes for the evening,” continued Petersen. “Those who attended our gala were so generous, and thousands upon thousands of lives will be blessed through their contributions.”

The night began with a presentation of the Mentors Distinguished Service Award to Marion D. Hanks, a former Mentors board chairman and emeritus general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Hanks brought to the Mentors board a broad and varied background which centered around his love for mankind and Mentors benefitted greatly from Hanks' deep interest in improving the lives of people throughout the world.

“His life-long humanitarian efforts paralleled what Mentors did,’ said friend and past Mentors president, Dick Oscarson who often traveled with Hanks worldwide making others aware of the Mentors mission. Together Hanks and Oscarson presented Mentors Insight meetings in over 30 different locales from Houston, Dallas, and Chicago to many parts of Utah and his influence did not end there. Hanks was also influential in helping develop the Mentors partner organizations in the Philippines and in Latin America.

Senator Orrin Hatch then presented First Lady Laura Bush with the Mentors International Humanitarian Award via video telecast.

“I am honored to receive Mentors’ International Humanitarian Service Award,” said Mrs. Bush. “The mission of Mentors is to alleviate poverty by empowering the less fortunate with tools to improve their lives. My life long commitment to global literacy shares Mentors’ dedication to help underprivileged people in developing countries become self-sufficient.

“Today, because of charities like Mentors,” she continued, “more people are learning about the groundbreaking benefits of micro-credit and more are joining the call to end the causes of global poverty. To accomplish the tremendous task that lies before us, we need the support of those who have been given much… to help those who have great need.” Her complete acceptance speech can be seen on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRlhXs9oDro.

Hatch told audience members how proud he was of Mentors that they could associate their name with a woman whose name has become a symbol of service.

Newell then introduced an informational video on Mentors. This video was followed by a special recognition award given by Mentors’ Chair Mary Ellen Smoot to the Tabernacle Choir, which was accepted by their president, Mac Christensen.

Among the numbers performed by the Choir were, Consider the Lillies, To Dream the Impossible Dream, The Battle Hymn of the Republic and He Shall Feed His Flock, among other songs. The songs were interspersed by Newell’s description of some of the Mentors clients he met while on a Mentors field trip this summer to Guatemala and El Salvador.

“On the trip, I learned that Mentors not only provides microloans but it more importantly gives the impoverished hope. Once the clients have that jumpstart from Mentors, they finally have that glimmer of hope that their lives really can improve,” Newell noted.

The evening closed with comments from Petersen who told the audience of Mentors “Ïmpossible Dream” of growing from serving 30,000 families annually to over one million families annually in the next 5-6 years. “The task that is before us seems almost unreachable, but with your help we can do it,” he said.

Mentors currently functions in Guatemala, El Salvador, Peru, Mexico and the Philippines through seven partner organizations. During its eighteen-year history, it has helped more than 810,000 people and 142,000 families work their way out of poverty.

Each foundation has its own local board of directors and staff and Mentors provides start-up support, training, funding, and loan capital. Many of its loan officers worldwide are returned missionaries from their own countries who not only lift their countrymen from the despair of poverty, but share their good examples and influence wherever they go.

Mentors devotes 100-percent of all its fundraising to the direct benefit of its overseas clients. Its board of directors covers all U.S. administrative costs. The organization’s operating philosophy and policies are based upon the concept that a successful life, business or society can be built only by building individual character.

Ninety-five percent of all loans granted by Mentors are repaid and the funds are self-perpetuated to the benefit of even more clients.

"We are so grateful to Lloyd Newell and the members of the Tabernacle Choir who were generous with their time that evening,” said Petersen. “Performance demands take them away from their families more than 150 days each year—that they would share their time and join us in this amazing cause is truly humbling.”