Be Kind: Nassau County District Attorney's office mentors Long Island students
WESTBURY, Long Island (WABC) -- A group of elementary school students on Long Island got our attention for our "Be Kind" campaign.
The Nassau County District Attorney's office is going above and beyond to mentor the students.
If you've ever wondered whether the best things in life really are free, all you need to do is listen in on one of the mentoring sessions.
Sometimes, it's free advice, or the peace from a simple, therapeutic project that sticks.
The Nassau County DA's office has been volunterring mentors in Westbury for decades.
Some of the mentees, now in their 20s, are coming back to give thanks. And even within this group, there were some meaningful words of gratitude right on the board.
"One little boy wrote something about how, you take away my sadness. And that touched me," said Cheri Debellis, assistant principal of Drexel Avenue School.
"Without mentoring, I would just be stuck in the same place I was two years ago," said 5th-grade mentee Jonathan Sainrival, describing that place as "deep".
For the DA's office, it's one of several times a month they visit kids in schools.
"And we talk about things like drunk driving, internet safety, and bullying, and dating violence," said Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas.
"And this is just one more aspect of it, getting to kids younger."
In this case 4th and 5th graders, in a district where more than 85 percent are economically challenged.
And it's not only the prosecutors who work as mentors. In this group, there are also paralegals and even investigators.
Talk to most of the kids and they're oozing gratitude about the grownups they've gotten to know.
"She always has my back on everything," said 5th-grade mentee Ashley Perez-Cortez.
And that feeling is priceless.
----------Don't forget to #BeKind. For more stories of kindness, check out our "Be Kind" campaign page and follow our Facebook group. Let us know if you see a business or community doing something kind by filling out the form below:
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