W.K. Kellogg Foundation Grant Helping Mentoring Network Become a More Forceful Voice for Vulnerable Kids

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Mar 11, 2010, 09:00 ET

PHILADELPHIA, March 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is bolstering its capacity to advocate for vulnerable children, families and communities. A new $398 thousand grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek, Michigan, will help Big Brothers Big Sisters define an enhanced advocacy and engagement strategy that will complement the organization's direct services.

"Independent research finds Big Brothers Big Sisters changes the life trajectory of children growing up in families headed by single-, low-income or incarcerated parents," said Big Brothers of America President and CEO Karen Mathis. "This expanded approach to supporting the families we serve is a natural evolution for our 385-agency network. As we carefully match children with volunteers and provide ongoing service to the matches and families throughout the mentoring relationship, supported by donors such as the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, we are uniquely positioned to ensure that the voices of all involved are heard to engender positive changes at a fundamental level."

Big Brothers Big Sisters, which received the one-year grant in January, has conducted research, including focus groups of its mentees and mentors in Albuquerque, NM and Detroit, MI to learn more about the critical needs and challenges within the communities it serves. The mentoring network has also begun to identify fundamental systems and policies that underlie and contribute to the circumstances confronting vulnerable children, including poverty, violence and educational, structural and racial/ethnic inequalities.

About the W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Established in 1930, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation supports children, families and communities as they strengthen and create conditions that propel vulnerable children to achieve success as individuals and as contributors to the larger community and society. Grants are concentrated in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and southern Africa. For further information, please visit the Foundation's website at www.wkkf.org.

About Big Brothers Big Sisters

Big Brothers Big Sisters helps vulnerable children beat the odds. The organization depends on donations to help conduct background checks on volunteers to ensure child safety; and provide ongoing support for children, families and volunteers to build and sustain long-lasting relationships, key to successful mentoring. Big Brothers Big Sisters is proven by independent research to improve children's odds for succeeding in school, behaving nonviolently, avoiding drugs and alcohol, and breaking negative cycles. Headquartered in Philadelphia and with nearly 400 agencies across the country, Big Brothers Big Sisters serves more than a quarter million children. Learn how you can change how children grow up in America by going to BigBrothersBigSisters.org and mentoringbrothers.org.

SOURCE Big Brothers Big Sisters of America