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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