Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area Kicks Off National Mentoring Month with Search for 75 Mentors & Call for Funding to Serve the 750 Children on the Waiting List
San Francisco, CA, January 04, 2012 --(PR.com)-- Big Brothers Big Sister of the Bay Area (BBBSBA) announced today an ambitious new campaign to recruit 75 new Bay Area mentors as well as a call for donations to help support mentoring matches for 2012. The campaign kick-off coincides with National Mentoring Month and is designed to immediately begin serving children currently waiting for mentoring support.
During January, BBBSA will visit local communities to discuss how to become a mentor as well as how mentoring and donations can assist at-risk children in the Bay Area. Some scheduled events include:
January 13 -- Information Booth at Femme Cartel: Girly/ Urban Party, Actual Cafe 6334 San Pablo Ave, Oakland, 5pm
January 17 -- Information Booth, National Mentoring Month Mentoring Mixer hosted by CARES, Heart and Soul Center of Light located at 1001 42nd Street Oakland, 6-8 pm.
In addition, BBBSBA is turning to Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter to distribute multimedia mentoring stories in an attempt to reach social media users interested in social causes. (Example: http://youtu.be/VHvA8VADXIg)
Ongoing -- Posting flyers at local college campuses
“National Mentoring Month provides BBBSBA with the opportunity to highlight the tremendous challenges at-risk children face and how mentors, and the match process, can tackle those challenges head on,” said Marcia Hodges, Chief Executive Officer of BBBSBA. “With so many children on the wait list, there is much more work to be done. However, we are extremely confident the Bay Area community will rally around this very important cause and will respond in the form of mentor volunteers and donations.”
The Need
BBBSBA serves children who are at risk -- 85 percent live in low income housing, 21 percent are in foster care and 19 percent have at least one parent in prison. There are currently 750 at risk children on the BBBSBA waiting list, 80 percent of which are boys. Even with these many wait-listed youth, BBBSBA currently has fewer than 20 volunteers applying to become mentors in cities like Oakland and San Jose. Wait listed children by county, include:
227 in Alameda
152 in Contra Costa
109 in San Francisco
111 in San Mateo
153 in Santa Clara
The Impact
BBBSBA’s mentoring services have a measurable impact on at-risk youth. Recent studies show youths matched with a Big Brother or Big Sister for 18 months or more are:
· 46 percent less likely to begin using drugs
· 50 percent less likely to skip class
· 32 percent less likely to use violence than non-mentored peers
“I was so close to not passing eighth grade. But luckily (my Big) was there to help me. (My Big) is like the very first person that actually showed how much he believed in me,” said Joshua, a little from Santa Clara County.
“You have so much impact and people don’t realize that such a small thing as just spending time with somebody, talking to them, being there for them, how that could influence society,” said Big Brother Keith Frazier from Santa Clara County.
Funding For 2012
In the summer of 2011, BBBSBA experienced federal budget cuts, which eliminated $500,000 earmarked for the critically important Mentoring Children of Prisoners Program (MCOP) and hundreds of the Bay Area’s most at-risk and vulnerable children. Even with these drastic cuts, BBBSBA still served 1,000 children in 2011 alone. In order to serve our current matches, and any youth on the long waitlist in 2012, BBBSBA needs $2,000 to maintain and support each match for one year.
To make a difference, volunteer to be a mentor and support local children who need this funding, please visit http://www.bbbsba.org or visit us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/bbbsba. In addition, the community can use their mobile phones to text the word “DONATE” to 40579 to make a $5 donation to Big Brothers Big Sisters.* *One-time $5.00 donation is charged to your wireless bill or deducted from your prepaid balance. Messaging & Data Rates May Apply.
About Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area
Founded locally in 1958, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area serves over 1,100 children annually in five Bay Area counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, San Francisco, and San Mateo. Part of the oldest, largest and most effective youth mentoring organization in the US, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area is an independent 501c3 nonprofit that receives no direct national funding. Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area differs from other mentorship organizations by focusing on one-on-one mentoring that has a proven and measurable positive impact. Surveys of matches that have been together for at least one year have shown that 94% of children with low self esteem improved their self confidence, 90% felt more positively about their future, and 100% of failing students improved their GPAs. As a local nonprofit supported by donors and volunteers, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area provides and professionally supports enduring one-to-one relationships of at least one year that help children reach their unlimited potential. To learn more about Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area, please visit www.bbbsba.org.
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During January, BBBSA will visit local communities to discuss how to become a mentor as well as how mentoring and donations can assist at-risk children in the Bay Area. Some scheduled events include:
January 13 -- Information Booth at Femme Cartel: Girly/ Urban Party, Actual Cafe 6334 San Pablo Ave, Oakland, 5pm
January 17 -- Information Booth, National Mentoring Month Mentoring Mixer hosted by CARES, Heart and Soul Center of Light located at 1001 42nd Street Oakland, 6-8 pm.
In addition, BBBSBA is turning to Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter to distribute multimedia mentoring stories in an attempt to reach social media users interested in social causes. (Example: http://youtu.be/VHvA8VADXIg)
Ongoing -- Posting flyers at local college campuses
“National Mentoring Month provides BBBSBA with the opportunity to highlight the tremendous challenges at-risk children face and how mentors, and the match process, can tackle those challenges head on,” said Marcia Hodges, Chief Executive Officer of BBBSBA. “With so many children on the wait list, there is much more work to be done. However, we are extremely confident the Bay Area community will rally around this very important cause and will respond in the form of mentor volunteers and donations.”
The Need
BBBSBA serves children who are at risk -- 85 percent live in low income housing, 21 percent are in foster care and 19 percent have at least one parent in prison. There are currently 750 at risk children on the BBBSBA waiting list, 80 percent of which are boys. Even with these many wait-listed youth, BBBSBA currently has fewer than 20 volunteers applying to become mentors in cities like Oakland and San Jose. Wait listed children by county, include:
227 in Alameda
152 in Contra Costa
109 in San Francisco
111 in San Mateo
153 in Santa Clara
The Impact
BBBSBA’s mentoring services have a measurable impact on at-risk youth. Recent studies show youths matched with a Big Brother or Big Sister for 18 months or more are:
· 46 percent less likely to begin using drugs
· 50 percent less likely to skip class
· 32 percent less likely to use violence than non-mentored peers
“I was so close to not passing eighth grade. But luckily (my Big) was there to help me. (My Big) is like the very first person that actually showed how much he believed in me,” said Joshua, a little from Santa Clara County.
“You have so much impact and people don’t realize that such a small thing as just spending time with somebody, talking to them, being there for them, how that could influence society,” said Big Brother Keith Frazier from Santa Clara County.
Funding For 2012
In the summer of 2011, BBBSBA experienced federal budget cuts, which eliminated $500,000 earmarked for the critically important Mentoring Children of Prisoners Program (MCOP) and hundreds of the Bay Area’s most at-risk and vulnerable children. Even with these drastic cuts, BBBSBA still served 1,000 children in 2011 alone. In order to serve our current matches, and any youth on the long waitlist in 2012, BBBSBA needs $2,000 to maintain and support each match for one year.
To make a difference, volunteer to be a mentor and support local children who need this funding, please visit http://www.bbbsba.org or visit us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/bbbsba. In addition, the community can use their mobile phones to text the word “DONATE” to 40579 to make a $5 donation to Big Brothers Big Sisters.* *One-time $5.00 donation is charged to your wireless bill or deducted from your prepaid balance. Messaging & Data Rates May Apply.
About Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area
Founded locally in 1958, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area serves over 1,100 children annually in five Bay Area counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, San Francisco, and San Mateo. Part of the oldest, largest and most effective youth mentoring organization in the US, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area is an independent 501c3 nonprofit that receives no direct national funding. Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area differs from other mentorship organizations by focusing on one-on-one mentoring that has a proven and measurable positive impact. Surveys of matches that have been together for at least one year have shown that 94% of children with low self esteem improved their self confidence, 90% felt more positively about their future, and 100% of failing students improved their GPAs. As a local nonprofit supported by donors and volunteers, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area provides and professionally supports enduring one-to-one relationships of at least one year that help children reach their unlimited potential. To learn more about Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area, please visit www.bbbsba.org.
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Contact
Big Brothers Big Sisters Bay Area
Joanne Gold
(415) 503-4396
www.bbbsba.org/
Joanne Gold
(415) 503-4396
www.bbbsba.org/
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