Bank Helps Fund Youth Mentoring Program

Positive role models can have a profound effect on the lives of early adolescents, increasing their chances of staying in school, going to college and getting jobs.

To help kids at risk secure a constructive influence in their lives, has awarded $4,755 to , an organization providing positive development programs to coastal New Hampshire youth and their families.

The Provident Bank funds will help launch SYS’s Natural Mentoring Program in which youth will identify at least one influential, “natural” mentor in their lives.

Mentors may be a relative, neighbor, coach, teacher, clergy or other person with whom the student interacts frequently and who can make a long-term commitment.

SYS will define boundaries and expectations for the mentoring partnership, and facilitate activities that may spark a life-long passion for the youth. The program will be piloted with six to 10 middle school students in Seabrook, and then SYS hopes to expand it throughout the Seacoast area and the rest of the state.

“The Provident Bank is pleased to support Seacoast Youth Services, which has an established history of developing creative programs to help young people in the region,” said The Provident Bank President and CEO Charlie Cullen. “Executive Director Vic Maloney and his team are once again getting to the heart of kids’ needs and offering solutions to make a difference in their lives.”

Seacoast Youth Services, located in Seabrook, provides positive youth development activities as well as educational and risky behavior prevention services to youth and their families in the Seacoast area.

It continues to grow its capacity while sustaining a continuum of research-based prevention, education, intervention and treatment programs that are appropriate and responsive to its constituents.

Founded in 2001, its goal is to create a safe, nurturing and non-judgmental environment where teens can learn life skills and improve their self-esteem to help them make better decisions and realize their potential.

The Provident Community Foundation is a permanent expression and confirmation of the values of The Provident Bank, a mutual financial institution that operates solely for the benefit of its customers and the communities it serves.

The foundation has provided over $3 million in grants to local community organizations since its inception in 1998.

[Submitted by The Provident Bank.]