MACON, Ga. — January is National Mentoring Month, and the Mentors Project of Bibb County is in need of more mentors.
Through the program, one Macon man took on the responsibility of not one, but two mentees.
You may have seen Michael Johnson hanging out with his two mentees since November, and on Saturday, they hung out at Pin Strikes bowling alley.
Johnson was first paired with 14-year-old Adonis Walden through the Mentors Project.
Once he found out Walden had a younger brother, he became his mentor too.
"I didn't want to leave one kid hanging just because of my time. I had no problem with taking both kids," Johnson said.
Johnson has taken them to multiple events around the city, like the Christmas tree lighting in downtown Macon and Mercer basketball games.
Walden plays football at Southwest High School. He says Johnson is his second father figure.
"You're always going to have a dad, but you need another adult father figure to guide you through," Walden said.
Walden feels like having a mentor is important, but there aren't enough to go around.
"These folks out there need a mentor more than I do, but there's no one out there to mentor them," Walden said.
The Mentors Project is in need of more people to join and be a role model for boys like Walden and his brother.
"The kids are there, they want the help. We just need more young men, good, positive role models to join the program, so these kids can have someone to look up to, someone to guide them along the right path. They just need that push," Johnson said.
There are more than 100 mentors in project, but there's always room for more.
If you would like to sign up to be a mentor, you can fill out the application at www.mentorsprojectbibb.org.