DON'T WAIT; JUST DO IT TIME'S RIGHT TO BE MENTOR TO NEEDY KID.

Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY 

For Pam Jones, it was just this simple. She stopped talking about it. Now she's doing it.

``It was about me finally getting off my butt and doing what I had been talking about for years,'' says the 36-year-old Reseda woman. ``There's never going to be a right time, so just do it.''

Become a mentor to a kid.

Become a Big Sister or Big Brother, or join any of the dozens of mentoring programs, like the Fulfillment Fund, that serve thousands of children and youth throughout Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.

It's National Mentoring Month, and if you respect the opinion of people like Gen. Colin Powell, Oprah Winfrey and Sen. John McCain, who have added their support to the program, there's no better time to become a mentor than right now.

``In Los Angeles, we have 3,000 kids on our waiting list for a mentor, and that probably doesn't even scratch the surface of all the kids who could use one,'' said Patrice Theard, executive director of the Los Angeles Mentoring Partnership.

Kids like 17-year-old Mitchell McCoy, a North Hollywood High School student who lost his mom to a heart attack when he was 13.

Businessman Mort Smiley stepped up to the plate for the kid and gave Mitchell exactly what he needed - a shoulder to lean on, and when he needed it, to cry on, too.

``He's been there for me whenever I need him, helping me work out problems and feelings, giving me someone to talk to when there was no one else,'' Mitchell said, adding that his father does not live with him.

``To be a good mentor, you have to show your love and that you care, because probably that's what the child needs most at that time,'' Mitchell said. ``I know it's what I needed.''

Next month, Mort, Mitchell, and about 25 other mentors and their young friends will be going whale watching together. It's just one of the fun trips they've got planned for the year, Mort says.

``A lot of people get scared off mentoring because they think it's too difficult and time-consuming, but they're wrong,'' he says. ``It's not like raising a child. It's like guiding one.

``The special relationship Mitch and I have does not interfere with the time I have for my own children and grandchildren,'' says the 67-year-old local businessman.

``They're all special relationships, and as far as being a mentor, it's one of the most self-satisfying things I've done in my life.''

She could have put it on the back burner again, Pam Jones says.

Could have convinced herself that a 36-year-old woman who had just gotten laid off from her job as a human resources director had more pressing matters than helping out some kid she didn't even know yet.

``I knew I needed to focus on finding a job, but then I thought that once again it was an easy excuse for not getting involved,'' said Pam, who is single with no children.

So while she's been looking for work, she's also been talking to the folks at Los Angeles Mentoring Partnership, trying to see best where her talents fit in.

She has decided to become a Big Sister. After Pam finishes her background checks and training sessions with the mentoring partnership, I'll be checking back with her when she meets her Little Sister for the first time.

Yeah, she's a little nervous, and excited, too, Pam says. She's not just talking about it anymore. She's doing it.

Becoming a mentor to a kid.

Embarking on the same journey Mort Smiley did three years ago when he met a kid named Mitchell who had just lost his mother.

If you want more information on the many local mentoring programs available, call the Los Angeles Mentoring Partnership referral line - [phone].

Like Pam Jones says, there's never going to be a right time, so just do it.

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While looking for a new job, Pam Jones is also waiting to become a Big Sister to some Valley girl in need of an adult guide. January is National Mentoring Month. For information on local mentoring programs, call the Los Angeles Mentoring Partnership referral line, [phone].

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News