OUR LITTLES NEED YOU.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Louisiana Kicks Off Recruitment Campaign to Find Mentors for Youth On Waiting List

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Louisiana is on a mission to recruit caring adults to pair with youth who are on a waiting list for a mentor. The agency is launching a recruitment campaign for their Community-Based program that will run during the months of July and August with the purpose of recruiting Big mentors, with a focus on Minority and African American men.

In the Community-Based Mentoring program, Bigs commit to spending time with their Little a minimum of twice a month and do activities together out in the community, like going to the park, playing sports, learning new skills, and many others. The main focus of these programs is spending time together to talk and build meaningful relationships, as well as creating and developing a one-to-one mentoring relationship between the Big and Little. This evidence-based mentoring program shows that children paired with a Big are more likely to be promoted to the next grade level, and less likely to be involved in the juvenile justice system.

The goal of this campaign is to recruit 60 volunteer mentors by August 31st. 61% of our Littles currently waiting for a Big mentor are male and 45% of our Big volunteer mentors currently waiting to be matched are male. Of those Bigs, only 6% are Minority Males vs. 49% of our Littles are Minority Males. The majority of our male Littles are lacking a strong, male role model in their lives and our goal is to increase the number of male volunteers in our programs so we can help to provide that.

UNABLE TO BECOME A MENTOR?

For those who are unable to become a Big mentor, there are other ways to get involved and support our 60 for 60 recruitment campaign!

• Donate $60.00 towards our campaign - Check out our different donation levels below and what they represent.
  • $60.00 – New Volunteer Orientation
  • $120.00 – New Volunteer Orientation and Child Safety Checks (background screening, reference checks)
  • $180.00 –New Volunteer Orientation/Child Safety Checks/Child Safety & Pre-Match Training
  • $240.00 – New Volunteer Orientation/Child Safety Checks/Child Safety & Pre-Match Training/Match meeting with your Little.
• 60 for 60 Facebook Challenge - Post a video of yourself to your Facebook page sharing our mission and recruitment campaign. Challenge 6 people to become a Big mentor OR donate $60.00 and tag their names in your post! Use #60for60BBBS and don't forget to tag @bbbs.swla!
• 60 Minute Challenge - Choose 6 people to call and tell them about Big Brothers Big Sisters of SWLA and why it's important to support our mission. Ask them to donate $60 and help spread the word by following us on social media!

SAFETY FIRST

While we highly value conducting enrollment, match introductions, and mentoring in person, we have been incorporating video conferencing services (i.e., Zoom, Skype) to complete interviews and enrollment. These video conferencing services will also be used to complete virtual match meetings. This will allow our program staff to both see and hear all match parties, Bigs, Littles, and Parent/Guardians, during the match introduction process, as well as support the match virtually. 

For those that have technology challenges with virtual enrollment and matching, we are able to complete an in-person interview and match meeting while practicing social distancing and health and safety measures by wearing face masks, temperature checks, a physical see-through barrier with proper 6 feet apart between BBBS staff and Big mentor enrollee.  All in-person program needs are by appointment only and only if proper safety measures are taken by all parties. 

Our Community-Based matches are also using virtual technology to spend time together or practicing social distancing and wearing masks while hanging out in person and in public. It is important that we provide the safest environment for our matches while adhering to community health directives. 

Groups or organizations who are interested in helping or getting involved with the campaign may contact Alex Stinchcomb, Marketing & Development Manager at [email protected] or 337-478-5437, ext. 114.