Year In Review

We are excited to share that our Women Who Move the City (WWMTC) Committee has selected the 2015 WWMTC Honorees. Congratulations to Alex Dockstader, Cindi McEachon, Megan McNally, Breanna Pugh, Julie Signorille and Amber Small! Each Wednesday between March 18th – April 22nd check back here or our Facebook page to learn more about each of these outstanding women in a weekly highlight.  Also listen to Kiss 98.5 each Wednesday leading up to the event for our WWMTC host and emcee Janet Snyder’s weekly recognition of each honoree. Women Who Move the City will take place on Wednesday, April 30th from 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm at Hotel at the Lafayette.  Attendees will enjoy cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and a one of a kind shopping and…

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Erie County is honored to celebrate  Gwendolyn Bork as this week’s featured Women Who Move the City Wednesday (WWMTC) Honoree!  A NYS Board Certified Addiction Recovery Coach and Trainer, Gwendolyn is the Vice President of In His Name Outreach (IHNO); a non-profit, faith-based resource center dedicated to building and restoring the spiritual, emotional and physical health of our community. The organization won Best in Business for the Town of Cheektowaga in the Counseling/Coaching Category in 2015.  As a member of the Erie County Opiate Epidemic Taskforce, she has been working diligently to spread the message of hope for families.   As shared in her WWMTC nomination, “Gwendolyn cares so deeply about people and has a soft spot for youth in need. She is constantly…

Big Brothers Big Sisters is honored to celebrate Alexa Zappia as our first Women Who Move the City Wednesday (WWMTC) Honoree!  Alexa, a native of  Williamsville, is currently a senior at St. John Fisher College in Rochester. In 2009, Alexa faced tragedy when her life mentor, Susan Wehle, suddenly passed away in the Flight 3407 plane crash. Alexa wanted to do something that would make her proud by continuing to touch peoples’ lives as Susan touched hers. How does a 12-year-old grieve such a tragedy? To Alexa, she found her life’s purpose: to volunteer at struggling organizations within the Buffalo community. Since the plane crash, Alexa has accumulated over 3,000 volunteer hours. Alexa has received the President’s Volunteer Service Award for three consecutive years during Barack Obama’s…

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, a group of Bigs, Littles and staff marched along side of our decorated Ford Friendship Van in the Puerto Rican Day parade. Our marchers handed out lollipops that included our contact information on the stick. It was a terrific parade and we had a wonderful time!

A group of Little Brothers and Littles Sisters were surprised with new bikes from Invitrogen Life Technologies located on Grand Island. The donation was part of Global Volunteer Week. During this week, Life Technologies companies in all regions select projects in an effort to impact the community. We were delighted to be one of the many projects completed during the week by local Life Technologies employees. In advance, the height of each child was sent to the company so they could purchase bike-building kits and employee teams assembled each bike! Our Littles, along with their Bigs, visited Life Technologies to receive their new set of wheels. For several of the children, this was their first bike! Following the bike presentation, the group received a behind…