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Chuck Hodierne has witnessed the difference a mentor can make in a child’s life.

Some adults have sat on the board of Youth Focus, the parent organization of Big Brothers Big Sisters, because they were influenced by a mentor.

Hodierne, executive director of Youth Focus, is hoping President George W. Bush’s visit to Greensboro on Tuesday with children and their mentors will emphasize the need for more people to help the program.

Bush will hold a roundtable discussion with three children who each have a parent in prison and their mentors. The visit will highlight the Big Brothers Big Sisters Mentoring Children of Prisoners program.

“We certainly always need additional role models to be mentors,” Hodierne said.

The White House has not released a schedule for Bush’s visit, spokeswoman Jeanie Mamo said Friday. Hodierne said the roundtable would be at the Big Brothers Big Sisters office on Summit Avenue.

Bush announced the Mentoring Children of Prisoners program during his 2003 State of the Union address, Mamo said. The program provides grants and support to local nonprofits that recruit and match at-risk children with mentors.

Bush is highlighting the local Big Brothers, Big Sisters program because of its success. With the help of a 2004 grant, the organization paired 140 children with mentors, Mamo said.

“They had a target of 120 matches, and they’ve exceeded that,” she said. Eighty children have been paired with mentors through a 2007 grant, Mamo said.

Hodierne estimates that 2,000 children in Guilford County have a parent behind bars. His staff has gone inside schools and prisons to identify children who are in need of mentors.

Bush also will present a High Point woman with the President’s Volunteer Service Award. Donna Hudson Turner has volunteered more than 25,000 hours with

Hospice of the Piedmont in 25 years. She has served as a bookkeeper and newsletter editor and has worked with patients and their families.

Contact Jonnelle Davis at 627-4881, Ext. 126, or jonnelle.davis@news-record.com