In 1995 I was working at Big Brothers Big Sisters as a part time case manager. One day a young man called the agency and changed my life forever. He told me the story of being mentored in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program many years before. He told me that he was now 24 years old and graduating from college and he was sure he would never had done it without the encouragement of his Big Brother. He described how his Big Brother had opened his eyes to endless opportunities and gave him hope for the future.
This phone call, about a life changing mentoring relationship inspired in me a life long passion for the mission of mentoring. For the past 15 years I have been involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters as either an employee or a mentor, or both. My Little Brother, Christian, and I have been matched for 7 years; he is 13 and just finished the 7th grade. As the CEO of the organization my days are filled with fundraising and these are tough times for fundraising. Budget cuts are being made much faster than I can make up the revenue. It can be discouraging. That's why, today, I am writing this blog post to express my sincere gratitude to a program Mom who called me up to thank me for the program.
About an hour ago, Mom M. called to tell me that her son and daughter just graduated from high school, and she wanted to thank the Big Brothers Big Sisters agency for providing them with a Big Brother volunteer and a Big Sister volunteer who helped her kids during some very challenging times in their lives. She described some of the outings the kids and the volunteers did together. She told me how the Big Brother inspired a love of cars in her son that has helped him think in terms of making career decisions and keeping his future in perspective through the hard times. She shared that the Big Brother recently took his Little Brother to dinner to celebrate his accomplishments.
Her phone call was a much needed reminder for me of why we do what we do at Big Brothers Big Sisters - even during times like as we encounter cuts, and more cuts - and then even more cuts - and no replacement funding in sight. Today there are over 1,400 kids on the waiting list for a Big Brother or Big Sister, and I think about them every day. Thanks to Mom M., today I am thinking of them with renewed energy and passion - and a commitment to do everything I can on their behalf, so that one day, they too can graduate high school and look into a future in which their dreams can come true.
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