Big Brothers Big Sisters Celebrates National Mentoring Month

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- This January, as part of National Mentoring Month, Big Brothers Big Sisters co-hosts the second annual National Mentoring Summit January 24-25 in Washington, D.C.; honors people in local communities who make one-to-one mentoring successful; and launches new web platform to focus on African American male mentoring initiatives.

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"We hold ourselves accountable for the proven youth outcomes that are unique to Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring programs, including academic achievement; avoidance of risky and delinquent behaviors; and higher self esteem and aspirations," said Big Brothers Big Sisters of America Co-CEO Mack Koonce.  "Our committed boards, leaders, and program, research, and mentoring support staff work with parents, volunteer mentors, donors and partners from the diverse communities we serve to give children who face adversity every opportunity to succeed.  National mentoring month is a time to pay tribute to the Big Brothers Big Sisters community and to encourage others to Start Something to extend our reach."

The second annual National Mentoring Summit, Invest in the Future: Mentor a Child, is hosted by an alliance of MENTOR, Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Corporation for National and Community Service, the Harvard School of Public Health, the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and United Way Worldwide.  The summit, which will be held January 24-25 in Washington, D.C., will feature Big Brothers Big Sisters research, military, corporate partnership and Native American program experts.

Also during National Mentoring Month, the Big Brothers Big Sisters National African American fraternity collaborative will launch Mentoring Brothers in Action, a nationwide drive to centralize resources needed to provide careful one-to-one mentor matching and support for more black boys, their families and their mentors.  To assist the effort, MentoringBrothers.org, a website powered by Big Brothers Big Sisters, will be re-introduced to provide the Mentoring Brothers in Action team a central hub for sharing resources, information, data and news to support individuals and organizations committed to moving African American boys from "waiting to be matched" lists into long-term, one-to-one professionally supported and tracked volunteer mentoring relationships.

Big Brothers Big Sisters affiliates will celebrate National Mentoring Month with a host of local events honoring their supporters – volunteers, donors, parents and staff members who work together to provide careful mentor matching and support services for children who face adversity.  Youth served by Big Brothers Big Sisters are primarily children of single, low-income or incarcerated parents or they are in military families or are coping with other challenges.

National Mentoring Month activities hosted by local Big Brothers Big Sisters affiliates will include:

• Thank Your Mentor E-greeting cards for "Littles" to share with their "Bigs"
• Thank Our Donor cards
• Thank Our Parents cards
• Thank Your Mentor Day festivities (January 26 for most communities)
• Take your Little to Work Days (January 13 and 16)
• Pot-luck mixers and receptions to acknowledge the mentoring community -- families, mentors, staff and donors
• Talent competitions
• Martin Luther King Day of Service mentor match service activities
• Fund and Friend Raising events

Big Brothers Big Sisters programs are based on a data-proven model focused on creating and sustaining strong and long mentoring matches.  Longstanding research by Public Private Ventures, a national nonprofit research and program development organization, found that Little Brothers and Little Sisters, compared to those children not in the program, are:

• 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

About Big Brothers Big Sisters
For more than 100 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters has operated under the belief that inherent in every child is the ability to succeed and thrive in life. As the nation's largest donor and volunteer supported mentoring network, Big Brothers Big Sisters' mission is to provide children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported one-to-one relationships that change their lives for the better, forever.

Partnering with parents/guardians, schools, corporations and others in the community, Big Brothers Big Sisters carefully pairs children ("Littles") with screened volunteer mentors ("Bigs") and monitors and supports them in one-to-one mentoring matches throughout their course. The organization holds itself accountable for children in the program to achieve measurable outcomes, such as higher aspirations; greater confidence and better relationships; educational success; and avoidance of delinquency and other risky behaviors. Most children served by Big Brothers Big Sisters are in single-parent and low-income families or households where a parent is incarcerated. Headquartered in Philadelphia with a network of about 360 agencies across the country, Big Brothers Big Sisters has approximately 630,000 participants, including our volunteer mentors, their mentees, and the children's parents/guardians. Learn how you can positively impact a child's life, donate or volunteer at BigBrothersBigSisters.org.

SOURCE Big Brothers Big Sisters