- December 14, 2025
Mary Jo Allen, executive director of Halifax Health Hospice, was named the FUTURES Foundation for Volusia County Schools’ Take Stock in Children 2018 Mentor of the Year.
Allen was given the honor during the Monday, Feb. 26, FUTURES Foundation Mentor Appreciation celebration where students in all Volusia County public high schools and mentors from all high schools were in attendance.
Allen has served as a mentor with FUTURES since 2016. For the last two years she has been a mentor to Amelia Bonjour, a sophomore at Spruce Creek High School.
“She told me to make sure I always have a job I love. That of all the things to do in my life, I should wake up every morning excited to go to work," Bonjour said. "Every time I don't feel like studying or getting up early in the mornings, I think about that and it inspires me, pushes me …. I'll have the memories we've shared in the back of my mind. As I go through adulthood I’ll remember her and I know she'll remember me.”
In addition to being a mentor, Allen has recruited several Halifax Hospice colleagues to also become mentors in the Take Stock in Children program.
