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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.

Kenneth Cole Fragrances, in partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, will share the stories of heroic Big Brothers to inspire others and encourage everyone to take action in their community.

That night, Lavonte led BBBS of the Midlands Littles and Littles on the waitlist through a mini football camp called “Football Fun with Lavonte.” In groups, Littles rotated through five stations, some run by local high school football staff and players and one run by Lavonte, who worked with kids individually at his station.

When former NFL tight end Konrad Reuland died at age 29 of a brain aneurysm in December, his family knew right away that he would want them to find a way to help youth, which he cared deeply about his whole life.

A concert can be a unique experience for matches. Big Sister Sharon, who volunteers with BBBS of Monmouth & Middlesex Counties, and Little Sister Melissa attended a concert together in February and had an unforgettable time. The two saw indie pop band Astro Lasso along with We The Kings, Cute Is What We Aim For, and Plaid Brixx.

Cory, an accounting and finance supervisor with Comcast in Pittsburgh, is a Big through Beyond School Walls, a program that matches youth with Comcast NBCUniversal employees who mentor them a couple of times a month at their workplace. He has been a Big for seven years, since the program started in his office.

Jason says he feels a responsibility to help kids in his community, and to help his 15-year-old Little Brother, Yousif, see that he can succeed in America. Jason’s dad modeled hard work for Jason when he was growing up. “He had a degree where he was from, but he worked long, long hours in Detroit, picking up glass bottles outside of the liquor store and recycling them for the owner,” Jason says. Eventually, he became a salesman, and then a manager. Now, he is the general manager of a wine store.

To kick off Bigs in Blue as a national Big Brothers Big Sisters initiative, BBBSA and BBBS Lone Star hosted a press conference in Dallas in March. Assistant Police Chief Paul Stokes, BBBS Lone Star CEO Pierce Bush, and BBBSA CEO Pam Iorio spoke about the need for Bigs in Blue in Dallas as well as the incredible response the program has already received.

At a press conference in Dallas in March, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America announced that 13 cities have been awarded grants to start or expand Bigs in Blue programs. BBBSA awarded $560,000 in grant funding, with seven cities receiving funds from WellCare, the first corporate partner to support Bigs in Blue. WellCare is contributing $250,000 per year for three years and encouraging its own employees to volunteer as Bigs.