More than 80 men, including four who volunteer at Lilburn schools, recently received a huge thank you from Gwinnett County school officials for mentoring youth, according to a press release from the district.

At Lilburn schools, those mentors honored were: Terry Foxx, a volunteer at Lilburn Middle School; Mike Lewis, a volunteer at Mountain Park Elementary School and Trickum Middle School; Steve Holevoet, a volunteer at Trickum Middle School and Parkview High School; and Francisco Salazar, a volunteer at Lilburn Middle School, according to a spokesman for the district.

The men are a part of the school district's Community-Based Mentoring Program, which began in 2008 and provides support to students who have been identified as at-risk

Primarily, these mentors make connections with youth on an individual and group level to foster self-respect, good communication, leadership skills, financial know-how and academic achievement.

This past school year there were a total of 81 mentors at Gwinnett County schools.

Darren Providence, who lives within the South Gwinnett came from New Jersey knowing he wanted to get involved locally. For 13 years, he served in mentoring program in his home state.

Now, he's dedicated two years of service to a Snellville Middle School student. In a Gwinnett County Public Schools press release he said:

"I do like to see kids make progress. They’re not bad kids. They make bad choices. They want to do good. They just don’t have the tools to do it. Our job is to help them get those tools."

For more information on getting involved, visit the "mentoring" section of the school district’s web site, www.gwinnett.k12.ga.us.