As part of National Mentoring Month, First Niagara announced Big Brothers Big Sisters of Erie County as one of eleven Western New York area organizations selected as grant recipients of First Niagara’s fourth annual Mentoring Matters program. During a news conference held at Enterprise Charter School, a total of $150,000 was awarded to support organized mentoring efforts in the Western New York community. The funds received by Big Brothers Big Sisters will support matches like Little Sister Maggie and her Big Sister Cymantha at the Site-Based Mentoring program at Enterprise Charter School. Little Sister Maggie shared, “It’s nice have a special friend that’s mine. She likes to be creative like me and I can talk to her about school, my baby brother or anything that I want to talk about.” The two enjoy making crafts and playing games. Additionally, they spend 15 minutes of each weekly visit reading. This extra time and support has been a big help to Maggie academically and personally! Our sincere appreciation to First Niagara for helping us to make this relationship possible for Little Sister Maggie and all of the youth involved in our Enterprise Charter School program.
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Big & Little Potluck
As National Mentoring Month came to a close, our Bigs & Little celebrated their mentoring relationships on Saturday with a potluck lunch. Matches were asked to bring a dish that reflected their ethnic heritage or a favorite dish the pair likes to eat or make together. The recipes and the names of the “chefs” that created them were made into a booklet for each match to bring home. Twenty matches attended the event and enjoyed American, African American, Columbian, Puerto Rican, Italian and Korean dishes. A few unique items created included Sister Cookies and Sloppy Josès!
Big & Little Give Back
Throughout the year, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Erie County (BBBSEC) sees evidence of the positive impact our mentors have on their Littles. With the holidays upon us, there are even more opportunities for our Bigs and Littles to give back together as a team. This year, one match in particular really exhibited the holiday spirit along with precisely what BBBSEC hopes to achieve: Little Brothers and Little Sisters that “pay it forward” and give back to the community themselves. Big Sister Sandy and her Little Sister, Lexington, have been matched for approximately 7 months in our Transforming Buffalo Through Mentoring and Education program- an enhancement to our traditional Community Based Program with an increased focus on academic outcomes for our Littles. In October of…
Fore The Children Golf Tournament is a BIG success.
Our 7th Annual Fore the Children Golf Tournament, presented by Transitowne and PCB Piezotronics, raised over $55,000.00! 128 golfers enjoyed a wonderful day at Transit Valley Country Club that included skills contests, auctions and lunch & dinner sponsored by Independent Health. During dinner, Mark Ferm of Tronconi, Segarra & Associates was presented the Hedwig “De” Moss Leadership Award. Mrs. Moss created this award in honor of her late husband & founder of BBBSEC, Robert F. Moss, to recognize an individual for outstanding community support. A BIG thanks to our presenting sponsors Transitowne and PCB Piezotronics for their outstanding support and to all of our golf & auction committee members for putting together such an excellent event. Last but not least, our sincere thanks to our…
Everyone Loves the Puerto Rican Day Parade!
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Big Appreciation Mixer
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Ford Friendship for BBBSEC Friendships!
BBBSEC received a donation of a Ford Flex through the Friendship Express program provided by the Ford Dealers of WNY. The vehicle will be used to transport groups of boys in our Partners for Youth program to different activities and events. Additionally, we will use it for small group outings for matches in our Site-Based and Community-Based programs. Thank you to the Ford Dealers of WNY for helping us broaden the horizons of our kids with a new set of wheels!