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It’s National Mentoring Month!

We are so excited to celebrate National Mentoring Month(NMM) with all of our Bigs & supporters and look forward to encouraging others to get involved!  A special thank you to our NMM Media Sponsor, WGRZ-TV 2 for creating and airing a PSA encouraging the community to get involved.  To learn more about the opportunities during NMM and your options to help make a BIG difference in the life of a child click here!

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Let’s Celebrate…It’s National Mentoring Month!

January is National Mentoring Month. Created in 2002 by Harvard School of Public Health and MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership, the month focuses national attention on the need for mentors, as well as how each of us-individuals, businesses, government agencies, school and faith communities and nonprofits– can work together to increase the number of mentors to assure positive outcomes for children.  Learn more about how you can personally make a difference during National Mentoring Month.     

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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!

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Take Your Little To Work Day

As part of National Mentoring Month, Big Brothers Big Sisters participated in Take Your Little to Work Day.This day was a chance for our Littles to experience the typical workday for their Big and learn more about their career. Check out the photos! Big Sister Stephanie, a teacher, had her Little Sister Teonna join her in the classroom for the day. Little Sister Teaonna had a great time and wrote the following about her experience. “Well, on the 13th day of January 2012, I went to Stephanie’s work place. She works at an elementary school in Williamsville. She is a very fun teacher and her job is so awesome. I had so much fun with her today. I was remembering that I was in the…

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Mentoring Matters

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…

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Food & Friendship

Wegmans Food Markets sponsored 10 matches from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Erie County for a healthy eating/cooking workshop titled “Food & Friendship” at the Sheridan Drive location in Williamsville. The goal of the workshop was to spread the “Eat Well. Live Well.” message in a fun and interactive class. Taught by a trained Wegmans staff member, the workshop was a hands-on experience for the Little Brothers and Little Sisters, ages 6-10, and their mentors. The 90-minute session included a tour of the produce section, trying new fruits and making recipes that could be duplicated in future outings between the child and their Big Brother or Big Sister mentor. The matches enjoyed helping in food preparation of simple recipes and learning about making healthier food…