Growing up, Asma faced challenges of her own. She always excelled at school, but dealt with bullies who teased her for her skin color, religion, ethnicity, and language skills. A teacher saw how much Asma and her twin sister were being picked on, and she referred both girls to Big Brothers Big Sisters.
At the BBBSA National Awards Gala in June, BBBSA highlighted some of the corporate partners that make our mission possible.
When D.J. got back to her home in Rhode Island, she simply asked the local affiliate, BBBS of the Ocean State, “What do I have to do?” Not long after, she was matched with Little Sister Caira.
For the fourth consecutive year, Corner Store is hosting a “down home family fun” event across the nation with their Corner Store Country Run. Proceeds from the race will benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters and local children’s charities in each city.
To honor Konrad, his family and friends have established the Konrad A. Reuland “Little” Endowed Scholarship through Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. Each year, proceeds from this fund will be awarded to a Little Brother within the network who is interested in playing football and attending college. This year, the Konrad A. Reuland “Little” Endowed Scholarship was awarded to Jonathan “J.J.” Barajas from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County.
When Big Brothers Big Sisters of America Board Member Liz Smith completed her two-year term as Board Chair in 2016, the Board wanted to honor her service. Liz isan extraordinary leader and helped the National Office through its most challenging years. The Board came together to endow a scholarship in her name. Every year, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America will award a college scholarship to a Little in the network who demonstrates leadership in high school.
This summer, our partner, Benchmark Resorts and Hotels launched a campaign to try to combat that by sending BBBS Littles and their families on trips of a lifetime. One of those families was the family of Little Brother Bryce. He and his family stayed in the luxurious Doral Arrowwood in the grassy hills of New York.
The BBBSA National Conference featured a modern-day child star, Markees Christmas, stopping by. Markees was the star of the movie “Morris from America,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last year. The movie won the Walda Salt Screenwriting Award.
The hashtag for the 2017 BBBSA National Conference was #BBBSTogether, and few people know how to better come together than Hall of Fame cornerback Darrell Green. Green played all 20 of his NFL seasons with the Washington Redskins and won two Super Bowls in two different decades with the team.
Twenty-one years ago, a young reporter named Kate Snow was trying to make it at a new television station, in a new city, Albuquerque, New Mexico. She didn’t know many people, and she wanted to spend her free time getting involved with her new community. So, she stepped into the local Big Brothers Big Sisters affiliate, and signed up to become a Big Sister.
The National Conference in San Diego, CA wasn’t restricted to only indoor workshops and sessions. At the end of Day 2, attendees loaded up in buses to take a trip to Petco Park for a San Diego Padres game.
Little Brother Jaylen was getting in trouble at school, his grades were low, and his mother was struggling trying to raise him and his two siblings. “I was single and wasn’t working. His father was not around,” she says. “There is a lot of crime, and children weren’t graduating. I wanted more for my children.” Hoping for some relief, she enrolled both of her sons as Little Brothers through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta, and Jaylen was matched with Big Brother Michael. Jaylen’s mom didn’t know at the time, but she was getting more than a Big for Jaylen. She got a Big for practically her whole family.
One of Little Sister Hannah’s dreams is to be a professional performer, and last night she sang “God Bless America” at Boston’s Fenway Park. But her bigger dream is to use her career to fund a foundation to help children like her – children who have cancer. “Kids who have cancer, it’s really tough for them and their families,” Hannah says. “I want to help them, financially and emotionally, and make the experience better, and fund research.” Hannah has spent most of her childhood in the hospital, but her dreams, talent, and positive attitude makes cancer only a small part of her story.
Big Brothers Big Sisters Abilene is mourning the loss of Big Sister Elise, an Abilene detective who was killed in a car accident last weekend. Matched in 2015, was a “perfect Big Sister” who had an “enormous and enduring impact on her Little Sister,” says Mark Rogers, Big Brothers Big Sisters Lone Star’s Abilene Market President.
Myrone got into trouble a lot when he was growing up, but he says there was always somebody there for him. A football coach. A basketball coach. An uncle. Someone who talked to him and shifted his course. With their positive influence, he stayed focus in school and eventually became a patrol officer and then a school resource officer. Now, he’s a sergeant. He knew he wanted to have that same influence on kids like him, so he studied social work in college. And now his list of titles includes “Big Brother.”
When Amy signed up to become a Big Sister, she envisioned being matched with a 7-year-old. She thought she’d spend time with a little girl who would do crafts and run around on the playground. Instead, the staff of BBBS of Puget Sound asked her, would she be willing to be matched with a teenager? The staff told her more about Little Sister Jasmine, and the more she learned how much they had in common, the more comfortable she became with the idea of being matched with a 13-year-old. Now, she wouldn’t change it for anything.
