Big Brothers Big Sisters Seeks Volunteer Mentors In Kosciusko
Posted
Jennifer Peryam-jperyam@timesuniononline.com
Volunteers are needed in Kosciusko County to be lunch buddies and Big Brothers Big Sisters mentors for children and teenagers.
Lunch buddies and Big Brothers Big Sisters mentors create a healthy environment, and boost the self esteem of the youth they mentor, according to Josette Rider, executive director for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Indiana.
The lunch buddies program is where volunteers go into the school system once a week to have lunch with students in kindergarten to eighth grade.
In Kosciusko County, there currently are 40 active volunteers in the lunch buddies program. There are 40 children on a waiting list to get a lunch buddy.
Volunteers are needed for every school system in Kosciusko County for the program.
To qualify to be a lunch buddy, people need to be at least 16 years old.
Lunch buddies spend time over the lunch hour and recess time with the student.
"The purpose of the lunch buddy is to talk to the student, and help them have fun and encourage them to get engaged in the community," Rider said. "The importance of the lunch buddy program is to know someone is looking out for them and know they can have a friend of their own."
Rider said the lunch buddy program has already been a success.
She said students in the program have had their grades improve, and truancy and behavioral referrals are down.
Besides lunch buddies, volunteers are needed to be big brothers and big sisters for children 6 to 17 years old.
Sherri Milton, Big Brothers Big Sisters volunteer ambassador, Warsaw, has been a big sister for five years, and said it has been rewarding.
Milton is a big sister to a 12-year-old girl at Harrison Elementary School.
"My little sister is more outgoing than when I first met her, and has been able to do things she might not have otherwise been able to do," Milton said.
Milton said "bigs" meet twice a month with their "little" for the first six months, and then can choose the number of times they meet with their little after the first six months.
There are 63 big brothers and sisters in Kosciusko County who are mentors. There are 27 children in Kosciusko County currently on a waiting list to receive a big brother or big sister.
To qualify to be a big brother or sister, a person must like to mentor a child, and dedicate time to the child.
Big Brothers Big Sisters staff will do background checks and check references to make sure volunteers are screened.
There also is an interview process the volunteer and little will go through, and will be match based on interests.
Big Brothers Big Sisters also is working with the existing dropout prevention program in Kosciusko County that began in June.
The program consists of educators, community leaders, volunteers and not-for-profit organizations that are working together to combat the ever-increasing dropout rate in Kosciusko County.
"Getting volunteers to intervene in a child's educational life when they are young is the biggest thing you can do to keep a child from dropping out of school," Rider said.
Rider said Big Brothers Big Sisters is working to find mentors to serve students locally to help decrease the dropout rate in Kosciusko County.
To be a lunch buddy or big brother or big sister, call Big Brothers Big Sisters at 888-456-1600.
For more information about Big Brothers Big Sisters, visit www.bbbsnei.org
