Get Involved

Get your child involved

Chautauqua Striders provides academic, mentoring, social-emotional learning and athletic programming to over 1,000 students grades K-12 every year.

Here are some quick links for program and event pages:

If you work in a school, or local agency serving youth, and want to refer a student to us contact us in the chat on the website, or call 716.488.2203.

Become a Mentor

Chautauqua Striders currently links adult mentors to approximately 80 youth grades 2-12 in schools across 5 districts; Jamestown, Southwestern, Falconer, Frewsburg, and Bemus Point. Our mentors are fully vetted, and provided with the training and resources they need to make a positive impact in a young person’s life, as well as their own.

Contact: Director of Mentoring & Advocacy, Erika Muecke at 716.489.3483 or erika@chqstriders.org 

Volunteer with us

There are many opportunities to support the work that Chautauqua Striders does in our community outside of being a mentor. This includes, but is not limited to tutoring, being a course marshal at Striders races, office-based admin work, helping out at Striders events, or advocating/fundraising for us. 

If you want to be a part of #TeamStriders call us at 716.488.2203

Tutor with us

At Striders, we are always looking for people in our community who are looking to make a difference in young people’s lives. Throughout the year, we actively recruit tutors for our after-school programs in Jamestown and Dunkirk districts. We also welcome expressions of interest in other areas of programming. If you are interested in working for us, please check out our job postings on Indeed.com, or contact us at 716.489.3487.

Run with us

Chautauqua Striders started life as a volunteer-run track club in 1979. We continue to honor our beginnings through our athletics programming, which not only serves youth, but also provides opportunities to adults to get involved in our Athletic Club and Striders-led races. 

To learn more about upcoming races and our youth programming, go to the Athletics page of our website, or call 716.488.2203, or email Athletic Coordinator Lexi Lindamer at lexi@chqstriders.org.

If you are an organization looking to apply to be part of our runner of the year series contact us at 716.488.2203 for more information. 

Support us in your workplace

We are always keen to share stories of the work we are doing within our community, and that includes businesses and organizations. We are always happy to provide presentations, and share community engagement opportunities to your team. 

We also have opportunities for businesses and organizations to support us through sponsorship of events and programming, donations/in-kind donations, and through volunteering with us.

To schedule a presentation for your business, or to learn more about how you can partner with us, contact us at 716.489.3488.

Striders in your School District

If you are looking to learn more about the services offered by Striders, we are happy to come and meet with your district and present to your team on our programming. We currently have tutoring and mentoring services available through the BOCES Coser (p.79 – SAFARI, School-Based Mentoring). We are happy to discuss needs that districts have outside of these Coser programs, such as Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and Athletic programming. 

For more information, contact Executive Director Jen Swan-Leuze at jen@chqstriders.org or 716.489.3488.