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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…

Buffalo Bills Holiday Party

Twenty of our Little Brothers and Little Sisters enjoyed the Buffalo Bills Annual Children’s Holiday Party. The Jim Kelly Club at the stadium was transformed into a winter wonderland with trees, holiday scenes and even a working “Polar Express” train for the kids to ride!  The children also enjoyed having dinner with the Bills and the Jills.  After dinner, Santa arrived bringing each child a bag full of gifts!  A few of our kids were surprised when several of the Bills, working as Santa’s helpers, came riding out to give them their very own new bike! A BIG thanks to the Buffalo Bills players, the Jills, the staff and their families for making this wonderfully generous and memorable event possible.

TransitowneUSA- A Little Warmth Makes a Big Difference.

Just in time for the winter weather, TransitowneUSA representatives presented warm winter hats, gloves and scarves to the children involved in BBBSEC at a pancake breakfast with their mentors on Saturday,December 10th at the Niagara Frontier American Legion Post. TransitowneUSA collected the winter accessories during their “A Little Warmth Makes a BIG Difference” campaign held at all of their locations in November.  TransitowneUSA customers received a gift certificate for a free oil change for bringing in a donation to benefit a child in BBBSEC. In addition to enjoying a delicious breakfast and receiving the winter accessories, each child also made a snowman measuring stick craft to take home and measure the latest snowfall!

“Dough” Raised for Our Kids!

BBBBSEC was one of fourteen charities that support children to receive a generous donation of $5,000.00 from Pizza Hut’s Raising Dough for Kids Charity. The “dough” was raised in the local Pizza Hut stores through contributions from their customers in change canisters and various other fundraisers throughout the year. The donation we received will be used to continue our successful Site-Based Mentoring Programs that match Big Brother and Big Sister volunteers with children at the Belle Center and Enterprise Charter School. 

Build A Bear

A special thank you to the members of Elmwood Kiwanis for sponsoring a special day for 10 of the children involved in BBBSEC at Build A Bear. Each child was able to create a bear of their very own with their Big Brother or Big Sister looking on! As you can see from the smiles in the photos, for each Little their new furry friend is already very special. Again, a special thanks to the Elmwood Kiwanis for making this event possible! 

Big Mirror Mixer a Success!

The first mixer hosted by our Big Mirror Initiative Committee at The 2nd Cup Café in downtown Buffalo was a BIG success. Over 50 guests joined us throughout the evening to learn more about our initiative to provide a more diverse pool of mentors to the children in our program. Guests that evening included community members and representatives from several local corporations, political offices and professional organizations. Everyone enjoyed networking with like minded individuals and 9 guests signed up to become Bigs! Currently, 0ver 80% of the children waiting for a Big Brother or Big Sister identify themselves as an ethnicity other than Caucasian. The goal of the Big Mirror Initiative is to provide a mentor, if the child wishes, of the same ethnic background.