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In December, Makia Lucas and Briana Kessler will mark 11 years they’ve been Little Sister and Big Sister, respectively, through Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS), starting out in the Lunch Buddies program when Lucas was in elementary school.
And while they’ve had many ups and downs together, this year may be one of their biggest years as they were nationally recognized as the 2025 Big Brothers Big Sisters of America’s Big Sister and Little Sister of the Year.
Lucas said they found out she and Briana Kessler were selected around March.
“They surprised me. We were supposed to go to dinner together, and when we walked into McAlister’s, it was our whole team with this big sign saying we were going to Philly and we won,” Lucas recalled. “Honestly, I was in shock at first and didn’t really realize what was going on. I thought we were still competing, so I was like, ‘Who are we going up against in Philly?’ And they were like, ‘No, you won.’”
Kessler said they were told in April, but they got the award on June 12 in Philadelphia, making it official.
“It was weird because I didn’t know there was such a thing as Big and Little of the Year nationally, so that was a little strange,” she said. “And then, we had spoken at (The Big Celebration) last year, but it was in November last year. They had a little video and told our story.”
That gave them both some experience speaking in front of people, but when they traveled to Philadelphia, they had to speak in front of over 2,000 people.
“So it was intimidating, but once we got up there, it was OK. It now makes talking easier,” Kessler said.
Both of them received a bunch of gift cards, tennis shoes that say Big Brothers Big Sisters on them and other swag. Ulta provided them with makeup. Their “very nice” award has their names on it and says “2025 Big Sister of the Year” for Kessler and “2025 Little Sister of the Year” for Lucas. They were given $1,500, but Kessler gave her share to Lucas because she’s starting college.
When they got to Philadelphia, Lucas said it was such a magical moment being there with the whole team and especially her Big.
“I’ve been with her going on 11 years. Just being with her in that moment, getting to do so many things like this, talking to so many Littles, like myself, who have so many stories, different hardships, different growths they went through, accomplishments they’ve had with their Big Sister. It was a really amazing feeling,” Lucas stated.
“She’s been with me since second grade, and I am now a freshman in college.”
Her favorite thing about Kessler is she can make anyone feel comfortable in her surroundings.
“Her presence alone just brings so much comfort, and you feel like you can just talk to her, and the world is bringing you to her because she just is a comforting and kind-hearted, caring person that she genuinely cares about the people she knows, and including doesn’t know. She’ll go up to strangers and our waitresses when we’re out at dinner and be like, ‘What can I pray for you about? What is going on in your life that I can pray for you?’ It’s such a beautiful thing to watch throughout the years,” Lucas said.
Recalling how she got involved in BBBS, Kessler said, “I’m a motorcyclist. There was a ride here in town called The Big Ride that was raising money for Big Brothers Big Sisters. I probably had gone to the Big Ride two or three years, and one particular year they put little cards on the tables because we started at the bowling alley on State Road 15. You went and rode around and came back and they fed you.”
Kessler saw and read the cards, seeing there was a need for Bigs. She took a card home and prayed about it. She decided to ask her boss if she could do the Lunch Buddy - now the School Buddy - program because she worked in a factory where she really wasn’t able to leave work. He told her yes, as long as she made up the time at the end of her shift.
“Little did I know, he had been a Little, so he wasn’t going to say no,” she said.
The company she worked for merged with another company over a year later, so it was going to be harder for her to do the School Buddy program. Kessler asked Lucas if she wanted to switch to the Community Based program, where Bigs and Littles do activities together outside of school. Lucas said yes.
“So that’s how we started. At the time, she had a sister that was in Riley’s Children’s Hospital, so her principal knew that she was being shuffled between grandparents because Mom and Stepdad were at the hospital with her little sister. So he had asked her if she wanted a Lunch Buddy and she said yes, not really knowing what it was. She just knew she had friends that did it,” Kessler recalled.
For about the first six months, Lucas didn’t really speak as she was very shy. After a while, once they got used to each other, Kessler said Lucas is one of her grandchildren now basically.
Before Lucas moved to attend Ball State University this fall, she said she and Kessler were seeing each other about every other week, going to dinner and catching up. Now that Lucas is at college, she said they text and talk on the phone at least once a week, if not more. Sometimes, Lucas will come back to visit Kessler and they’ll have dinner together, or Kessler will travel to Muncie to visit Lucas.
“It’s really nice just catching up with her and still being able to talk to her every week,” Lucas said.
“I text her at least once a week,” Kessler said. “Probably more. Probably more than I should. I know when her classes end, so I try to text later, but if I’m texting earlier, I always say, ‘I know you’re busy. Just checking in.’”
Kessler said they will represent BBBS until June 2026 when the next Bigs and Littles of the Year are announced. So far, they’ve been featured on area television stations, have spoken at many BBBS events and will speak at a number of other forthcoming events.
Though Lucas has aged out of the program, Kessler said since Lucas received a BBBS scholarship, “that means we’re matched until she’s done with college.”
After college and she starts her career, Lucas said she definitely plans to get involved with BBBS and become a Big to someone else because BBBS “has absolutely changed my life and helped me.”
She said BBBS treated her like family, no matter what she went through.
“I went through the biggest hardships of my life that I’m ever going to go through, and the biggest accomplishments and achievements that I’m ever going to go through, and they’ve been there for me no matter what. They have never changed their opinions about me. Have just kept me going, have been there for me through grief, have been there for me through happiness. They are truly my family and I could not ask for a better team to go through this with me and letting me do this for them,” Lucas stated.
Kessler said, “Big Brothers Big Sisters needs more Bigs, so please consider being a Big.”
She said people can reach out to her on social media for more information. She’s listed under Briana Kennedy-Kessler on Facebook.
“They need more Bigs. It doesn’t take much time. It’s not expensive. People feel like they don’t have enough time, and I was one of those people. You make time for what’s important, and you’re going to be way more blessed than the blessing you give. You get way more back than what you give out,” Kessler said, adding if a person doesn’t want to be a Big, they can always support the organization financially and with prayer. “To me, prayer is the most important. Just pray that we get more Bigs.”
