Thursday, December 8, 2011

Big Brothers Big Sisters




  • 46% less likely to begin using illegal drugs
  • 27% less likely to begin using alcohol
  • 52% less likely to skip school
  • 37% less likely to skip a class
  • 33% less likely to hit someone
  • *source*

    What are these statistics? They are the results of a national study completed in 1994 and 1995 using the Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring organization. These statistics represent the findings after 18 months of mentoring for young people through the program.

    Big Brothers Big Sisters is a mentoring program for children at risk.

    From their website:

    Big Brothers Big Sisters operates in almost 370 communities across the United States - large and small, urban and rural. Our local agencies work with their colleagues across the nation to design and develop programs that are tailored to the needs of their community.

    Big Brothers Big Sisters partners with individual donors, foundations, corporations, governments, and others to build the critical network of support that funds and enables the work of carefully matching children with caring adult mentors and providing ongoing support to the child, volunteer mentor and child’s family.

    Professionally trained Big Brothers Big Sisters staff members work with our partners in the education and juvenile justice communities to find children facing adversity and assess how our programs can have the greatest impact. Big Brothers Big Sisters targets the children who need us most, including those living in single parent homes, growing up in poverty and coping with parental incarceration.

    How can you help?

    Whether you get involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters as a donor, potential Big Brother or Big Sister, partner, advocate, or family member, you have the power to Start Something for a child today.

    We can all help a child in need. Perhaps you have an afternoon or two a month to spare for an at risk child, or maybe your charity dollars need a good place to go this year. I have seen the good work the Big Brothers Big Sisters program does, and I firmly believe that mentoring works!

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