National Bring Your Little To Work Day: January 13, 2011

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Big Brothers Big Sisters is designating Jan. 13, 2011 "National Bring Your Little to Work Day" (BYLTW Day).  Coinciding with National Mentoring Month, the special day will raise awareness for Start Something™, a national initiative inviting all adults – not just potential volunteers -- to support quality one-to-one mentoring to help children who face adversity beat the odds.  

"Bring Your Little to Work Day is a way for our amazing mentors to demonstrate to their co-workers how their service opens doors of opportunity for children across the country," said Big Brothers Big Sisters of America President and Chief Executive Officer Karen J. Mathis.  "Our hope is to build our network of support while providing mentees and their mentors one more valuable match experience."

The nation's leader in quality one-to-one youth mentoring services, Big Brothers Big Sisters holds itself accountable for and is able to measure specific youth outcomes.  Its programs focus on educational achievement, avoidance of risky behaviors (especially juvenile delinquency), higher self-esteem, confidence and ability to relate to others.  Start Something challenges Americans to visit BigBrothersBigSisters.org to get involved by donating, sharing mentoring success stories -- or volunteering.  Increased funding will allow Big Brothers Big Sisters to carefully make more mentoring matches and provide ongoing assistance for mentors, mentees and families to help sustain long successful relationships unique to its programs.

Big Brothers Big Sisters programs are based on a data-proven model focused on creating and sustaining strong and long-term mentoring matches that help improve the odds that children facing adversity will achieve in school, avoid risky behaviors and have healthier relationships.  BYLTW Day is a special workplace initiative designed to go beyond the common practice of shadowing an adult for a day.  It will give Americans a first-hand look at how quality one-to-one mentoring strengthens the relationship of mentors and mentees and empowers youths who face adversity with enriching life experiences.

How it works:

On BYLTW Day, Bigs and Littles will be encouraged to work together during any part of the day – before, during or after school – for any time-period that works best.  Mentors and mentees will work as a team "on the job" by taking part in events such as brown bag- lunch story sharing about the importance of mentoring.  They will also hold informal meetings with mentors' fellow employees to let them know how they can support quality one-to-one mentoring.

About Start Something:

Big Brothers Big Sisters developed the Start Something campaign, launched during National Mentoring Month 2011 to give adults simple, action-oriented options for doing their part and helping children succeed.  By visiting BigBrothersBigSisters.org, adults can explore different ways to get involved through donating, volunteering or story sharing to encourage others to get involved.

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. Most children served by Big Brothers Big Sisters are in single-parent and low-income families or households where a parent is incarcerated. As the nation's largest donor and volunteer supported mentoring network, Big Brothers Big Sisters makes meaningful, monitored matches between adult volunteers ("Bigs") and children ("Littles").

Big Brothers Big Sisters provides a system of ongoing evaluation and support which is proven by independent studies to help families by improving the odds that "Littles" will perform better in school and avoid violence and illegal activities, and have stronger relationships with their parents and others. Headquartered in Philadelphia with a network of nearly 400 agencies across the country, Big Brothers Big Sisters serves nearly 255,000 children. Learn how you can positively impact a child's life, donate, or volunteer at BigBrothersBigSisters.org.

SOURCE Big Brothers Big Sisters