 Youth mentoring in a simple positive role model can make a huge impact on the life of a child. That's why Kinship Partners started their Lunch Buddies program that uses the simple concept of pairing an adult in the community with a student to have lunch. With this week's Golden Apple reporter Rachel Johnson has more. Are you going to be a chef when you grow up? Mentoring is such a simple concept, but it can have a huge impact on a child's life. That is the goal of Kinship Partners Lunch Buddies. Lunch Buddies is when someone in our community comes into the school over the lunch hour and has lunch with a child. In addition to eating lunch with their mentor, the Lunch Buddies also make a craft every session. This week they made Vandy ornaments just in time for Christmas. The Lunch Buddies program takes place twice a month and allows community members to be introduced to mentoring. For the children they feel very special and so to have someone show up and it is the same mentor that shows up every two weeks per month. After a couple times already the kids are overflowing with things to talk to their mentor about and it's actually a real big support system. I just like visiting with the children on a kind of a small group basis and meeting lots of different kids. Many of the mentors work for area businesses that sponsor them to be able to take an hour out of their day to mentor. We have people who are working that get to take a break and then we also have other people in the community. We have some people that are retired that's kind of common. The program has had a huge impact on the students as well as the mentors. There's a benefit both for mentors and for the kids for the mentors. Their benefit really is to come in and have an impact on their community in a very real way. I think they just like having another adult around to hang out with and to talk to and it's not trying to teach them anything or not trying we just can enjoy our times together. Research indicates that successful children can identify one adult in their life that has made a difference. Mentoring is very important. I think there are plenty of kids that don't always find that person or that person doesn't find them and so what we like to do at kinship is intentionally find people who say well sure I'd like to do that and then match them with a child and in just a very real way a real living way they have an impact on their lives. Though it's such a simple gesture the students having lunch at their lunch buddies has a lasting impact. Reporting from Brainerd with this week's Golden Apple, Rachel Johnson, Lakeland News. In January the Lunch Buddies program will have mentors in all four elementary schools in the Brainerd City Limits. They hope to continue growing to baxter initial elementaries in the future. Good program there. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.