Big Brothers Big Sisters looking for volunteers
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Sarnia Lambton is in need of volunteers for its mentoring program, especially within Lambton County.
A recent count of children waiting for a Big Brother or a Big Sister shows that nine kids in Petrolia between the ages of seven and 13 years of age have been waiting an average of five years to matched in the one-on-one program. There are three children in Brigden, ages three, seven and 10, who have been waiting an average of two years while there is two kids in Watford, ages nine and 10 waiting for an average of three years and one eight-year-old child in Wyoming waiting for two years.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Sarnia Lambton put out a call for volunteers where it zoned in on many of the communities outside of the Sarnia in Lambton County. There were a total of 19 children waiting to be matched with mentors with the longest wait time being five years.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Sarnia Lambton Executive Director Kaylen Burgess said there are different needs out in the county then within Sarnia. The biggest challenge is access to transportation for the adult mentors. She said another is knowing that Big Brothers Big Sisters is in need of volunteers for the program. Often people will become a Big Brother or Big Sister because they know of someone else who has also volunteered. It is also more common for women to volunteer as Big Sisters, then to have men to come forward as Big Brothers, said Burgess.
She said the wait times to be matched with an adult mentor are unacceptable and the organization is getting creative to recruit volunteers.
To become a one-on-one mentor, an individual must be at least 18 years of old and have an interview with staff of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Sarnia-Lambton and needs to submit at least three references. A vulnerable sector screen and a criminal records check must also be conducted. Once a volunteer is matched with a child, there is an expected time commitment of a minimum of three to four hours a week.
“The best matches get just as much out of it as the child,” said Burgess. Children are between the ages of five and 18 years of age. Many of the children have experienced trauma, abuse, poverty, a family breakdown, social isolation or simply would benefit from the support of a one-to-one mentor.
A child graduates from the program at 18, and Burgess said over her 15 years with Big Brothers Big Sisters, she has seen those who were in the program as a child come back to be a mentor. It is a great thing to see,” she said.
Since Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Sarnia Lambton have started their volunteer recruitment campaign last week, 18 people have stepped forward as possible volunteers and she encouraged others to give their time to the program.
Blake Ellis, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Independent
