Big Brothers Big Sisters program sees involvement drop
The Big Brothers Big Sisters mentorship program connects kids and teenagers with an adult to build relationships. The program is looking for students to volunteer as their numbers have been dropping. Volunteers can hang out and play games with the kids.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of central Minnesota is looking to increase their involvement and presence at CSB+SJU. With their two work study leaders traveling abroad, they are struggling with presence on both campuses.
Big Brothers Big Sisters is a nationwide organization with over 100 agencies across the country. It is a mentorship program that matches kids and teenagers with an adult, college student or high school student who can act as a mentor and support and hang out with youth. Matches begin with a one-year commitment, and they see where it goes from there.
Big Brothers Big Sisters has three locations across Minnesota. The St. Cloud agency has been around for 55 years. The organization has partnered with St. Cloud State University and St. Cloud Technical and Community College, and now with CSB+SJU.
“We have the groundwork for the organization on campus and it is trying to get up and running, so we are looking for students to volunteer,” said Emmitt Edwards, the community engagement coordinator for Big Brothers Big Sisters of central Minnesota.
At CSB+SJU, the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, called Bigs, matches students with a kid from Kennedy Community School in St. Joseph. The organization starts with group settings for the Bigs program. Students from Kennedy Community School are brought to CSB+SJU every first and third Thursday of the month, between 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., to meet with their mentors and participate in group activities. Support staff come along to aid in the group setting.
The time commitment is 30 minutes a week or 60 minutes every other week, and Edwards believes this explains the drop in numbers of involvement.
“Everybody is busy, and everybody thinks they are even busier than what they are, so we chat about that [time commitment] all the time. 30 minutes a week or 60 minutes every other week—that’s a lunch break and that’s how we talk about it,” Edwards said.
Edwards also explained that this program can be a resume builder, as he knows that is a big draw for students to get involved in clubs and organizations.
“A lot of people know what Big Brothers Big Sisters is and love what we do, so that alone helps if a student is resume-building driven,” Edwards said.
As the connection develops between the mentor and mentee, referred to as “big” and “little” in this program, getting together outside the designated time to hang out, eat dinner, play games and more is an option. These connections have the potential to last a long time. Edwards shared a story on a big and little meeting when the little was eight years old. Two years ago, the big helped move him into college in Nashville.
“We have 135 waiting littles in our service areas that don’t have a big. 95 of those are kids that identify as little brothers, so we always push that while we need and welcome both big brothers and big sisters, we really need big brothers,” Edwards said.
