Unfortunately, we live in a time in which many families are fractured or suffer economic woes that make it difficult to provide proper parental mentoring or guidance for their children. One national organization helps fill this void, and that is Big Brothers/Big Sisters.

According to their national website, Big Brothers Big Sisters seeks to change the lives of children facing adversity for the better, forever. “We operate in communities all across the United States — urban and rural, Big and Little.” Their mentors work with children in the community, in their schools, on military bases, and in many places in between. Their unique brand of one-to-one mentoring has a Big impact all over the nation.

Big Brothers Big Sisters helps children achieve success in school, helps them avoid risky behaviors such as getting into fights and trying drugs and alcohol, and helps them improve their self-confidence. They hold themselves accountable to our supporters by regularly measuring their impact.

Big Brothers Big Sisters seeks to change the lives of children facing adversity between 6 and 18 years of age. Their network of volunteers, donors, and supporters comes from all walks of life, all backgrounds, all corners of the country.

Locally, Lycoming BBBS started back up in 2015.

“We are administered by BBBS of NEPA, which consists of 11 counties. The program continues to grow, and we are always looking for new volunteers,” Wala Tillman, Program Specialist for Lycoming BBBS told Webb Weekly. “Lycoming BBBS recently expanded into the school arena and started a site-based program through the South Williamsport School District. This is Lycoming County’s first BBBS site-based program, although we have provided community BBBS services for many years. High School students were matched with 5th and 6th-grade elementary students.”

Tillman said the new matches will meet up at the Rommelt Elementary School once a week, which will be professionally supervised by the two program specialists, her and Mary Martin.

“We plan to allow individual time for the matches to assist with their relationship-building during the weekly events. We also plan to have speakers and group activities related to the student’s interests,” Tillman added. “The program will benefit not only the younger children but also the high school students as they will learn the value of mentoring and giving back. The little will benefit by having a positive role model who will show interest and compassion in hopes to build on their confidence and help them be more successful in all areas.”

BBBS is evidence-based, and children that have had a mentor are 52 percent less likely to skip school, 46 percent less likely to use illegal drugs, and 75 percent of the children matched graduate high school, according to Tillman.

The high school Bigs and elementary Littles are asked to commit for the entire school year. “At the end of the day, it’s really all about starting a friendship, providing guidance, and inspiring them to reach their potential,” concluded Tillman. If you are interested in our program services, please call 570-433-3193 or visit mentor@bbbsnepa.org.