It didn’t take Craig Weber long to dive headfirst into the Hartsville community after he moved here from Florida in the summer of 2021. One of his first thoughts? “For the size of this town, there’s a lot going on!”

Craig was introduced to Trent Hill Center’s Founder & Executive Director, Scottie Hill, through the Kiwanis Club of Hartsville. “One of the first times I met her at Kiwanis, somebody was mentioning THC,” he says; “I followed up with her to talk about what I could do to help out, and she told me about the mentor program.” He had never been a mentor before but was excited to explore the opportunity through THC.

Craig’s first mentee, Devon, ran track at Hartsville High School, so naturally one of their first outings was a track meet at West Florence High School. The next time, they chose an activity that they could both participate in: roller skating, although Craig admits he was sore for the next few days. “He wanted to try to skate backwards, [so] we were both out there trying to skate backwards,” he notes, laughing.

The more time they spent together, the more Devon warmed up to his mentor. “He talked a little bit about what his aspirations are: he wants to go into some medical field, whether it's anesthesiology, or maybe pediatrics,” Craig says, adding, “I look forward to breaking through his personality so that we can talk more about that kind of stuff and I can kind of be a sounding board.”

When Devon returned home to live with his family after spending nearly two years at THC, Craig was left empty handed…though not for long! Within a matter of weeks, THC’s Coordinator of Volunteerism, Missy Cummings, had identified another THC resident to pair Craig with. He and his new mentee, Jamie, have already bonded over roller skating and Chick-fil-a. Next up: kayaking on Black Creek!

Craig says of his experience as a mentor thus far: “I probably tend to overthink things more than most people, and [this experience] is not that…it’s just spending time with somebody that doesn’t have a lot of adult figures in their life that they can just talk to.”

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