Big Brothers Big Sisters of Weyburn is celebrating a milestone this year.
"This is our 30th year of matching caring community members and teens with children in the city of Weyburn," said Sharla Sept, Executive Director of BBBSW. "We are proud to have achieved this and we thank the community for the support of the organization."
Sept said that the organization currently has children on its waitlist who are waiting for a mentor and that they will be striving to match them all this year.
BBBSW is currently seeking volunteers for the In-School Mentoring program. Volunteers go to an assigned local school once a week during the lunch hour to spend time with a child. They can play games, have a chat, play in the gym or outside.
"One hour a week is such a small amount of time, but makes a big difference in the life time of a child," said Sept. "The impact that mentors make within this program seeps into a child's school and home life and also affects the volunteers in a positive way."
Research has shown that mentored youth are 46% less likely than the control group to initiate drug use. Mentored children and youth skipped half as many days of school, felt more competent about doing homework, skipped fewer classes and showed gains in the grade point averages.
"Through the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization, I have seen mentors that were students, grandparents and even great grandparents," stated Sept. "The mentors I have worked with have been from ages 18 to 93. That is a wide age range, but the bond that ties these volunteers is the passion to make a difference in a young person's life."
Anyone who would like to start something this month can check out the group online at weyburnbigbrobigsis.ca or contact Sharla at 842-4050.
