Jay Collins presented with T1L1’s Ida Award

By KEVIN YANEY
For The Reporter

Jay Collins of Carmel has been given the Ida Yaney Overholser Award for his volunteer work with Teach One to Lead One (T1L1) mentoring in central Indiana. The Ida Award is presented annually to a person who has worked behind the scenes to help children overcome obstacles and become leaders through T1L1 mentoring.

Collins has been instrumental in launching and expanding the T1L1 program in central Indiana. He and his wife, Gail, hosted the initial interest group that established the first T1L1 mentoring group in Indiana at Hamilton Heights High School in 2019. Since then, the program has expanded to include six school corporations. Collins has served as a board member and a key supporter of the Central Indiana Chapter of T1L1 since 2019.

T1L1 partners with schools to teach 10 Universal Principles to students through community mentoring teams. The program is staffed and funded by caring community members. It is a collaborative effort from both the community and schools to support children. Since its inception, the program has served 1,179 students in schools across central Indiana.

Ida Yaney Overholser was born in Indiana in 1885. Throughout her life, she experienced heartbreaking loss and tragedy but overcame these obstacles with a lot of grace. In her 100 years, she served as a caregiver to people in need and a comforter to those who had experienced great loss in life, as she had. The Ida Award honors her legacy to bestow grace and kindness to people in need.

For more information on Teach One to Lead One, go to T1L1.org.