Hope College senior Reed Swift of Midland has received the July "Senator's Award for Men in Mentoring" from State Senator Wayne Kuipers (R-Holland).
Hope College senior Reed Swift of Midland has received the July "Senator's Award for Men in Mentoring" from State Senator Wayne Kuipers (R-Holland).
Swift is a mentor with Big Brothers/Big Sisters of the Lakeshore. He received the award during a ceremony on Friday, July 23.
The award consists of a framed certificate signed by Kuipers and Governor Jennifer Granholm, and a $50 gift certificate to the City Vu Bistro inside City Flats Hotel in Holland.
Kuipers represents the 30th District, which includes all of Ottawa County as well as the City of Grandville and SpartaTownship in Kent County. The Senator's Award for Men in Mentoring is intended to highlight the importance of mentoring by males in particular, since nationwide two thirds of all youth in need of mentors are male but only one third of mentors are male. Kuipers presents it monthly to the programs that are partnered with the Ottawa County Mentoring Collaborative (OCMC), including Big Brothers/Big Sisters of the Lakeshore, with each program able to identify one recipient per year.
Swift is majoring in economics and management and minoring in organizational leadership practice. His activities at Hope have included the college's circle of the Omicron Delta Kappa national leadership honor society. He is a 2007 graduate of H.H. Dow High School and the son of Elizabeth Swift Christy of Midland.