Some of the state's most influential people delivered a special message at the Virginia Mentoring Partnership luncheon:
"Do something greater than yourselves."
Since 1993, the Virginia Mentoring Partnership and affiliates have touched the lives of countless individuals by training 30-thousand volunteers who have donated money and time.
Governor Bob McDonnell says sometimes young people are looking for a second chance, or need someone in addition to their parents to step in. He says they often become more productive parents, employees, business owners, and mentors themselves.
Actress Daphne Maxwell Reid, who was the Mistress of Ceremony, says this is really about reestablishing communities like those she lived in when she was young.
"Mentoring is something that one should do in their every day life. Every person should mentor someone for some particular reason. It's a purposeful way to live your life. It's to pass on whatever you've learned to the next who are coming after you."