Let’s hear it loudly, folks: three cheers for the Littles!, three cheers for the Bigs!
The “Bigs” and the “Littles” in central Minnesota’s Big Brothers Big Sisters program are incredible people who work and play together to encourage deep and abiding friendships, personal skills and talents, self-confidence and courage in facing life’s challenges.
The Bigs are the mentors in the program while the Littles are the children (mentees) who bond, share and learn from their mentors.
Starting on July 22, BBBS will make efforts through its “Back to School” recruitment program whose goal is to secure 60 new adult mentors by Aug. 30. To that effect, all current and prospective Bigs (ages 21-and-up) are invited to attend a kick-off event from 4-7 p.m. Tuesday, July 23 at Back Shed Brewing in Waite Park. At that event, anyone pondering becoming a Big can talk to BBBS staff about what that entails.
What’s sad (but in some sense hopeful) is there are now 130 Littles on a waiting list to be matched up with their Bigs. Ten of them have been waiting for more than two years. That list will probably grow once school classes begin, when teachers and/or counselors have a chance to identify students who would benefit from adult mentors.
Recruitment of adult mentors is a priority heading into the 2024-25 school year. Adult mentors can be matched through the agency’s community-based program, a school-based program in one of six districts in central Minnesota or in the Bigs on Campus initiative. Community-based matches meet on their own time, while school-based and Bigs on Campus matches meet at agency-sponsored activities and set times.
Established in 1969, the multi-award-winning Big Brothers Big Sisters and its participants have garnered so many honors for their good works. Its mission is “to create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth.” And that is exactly what it has done for so many years. Sometimes-stunted young lives “bloom” into success and happiness because of the friendship/mentoring process.
Statistics show 90 percent of Littles in the program improve and maintain attitudes against potentially risky behaviors and 83 percent of them improve or maintain their parental trust.
BBBS serves youth between the ages of 5 and 21 throughout its service area in the counties of Stearns, Benton, Sherburne, Morrison and Wright.
To learn more about mentorship options and about becoming a Big, call 320-253-1616 or visit the website BigDefenders.org/ways.
The Newsleaders has published many feature stories throughout the years about match-ups between Bigs and Littles. It was exhilarating to interview those people and to learn what upbeat, positive, happy outcomes occurred in the lives of the Littles, in the lives of the Bigs and in the lives and relationships among the families of both Bigs and Littles.
Please, if at all possible, consider becoming a Big. It’s not only the start of a new and fun friendship, it’s the beginning of a strong bond that benefits the participants, not to mention the society at large.
Go for it!
