Nick McWilliams reporting – Celebrating 50 years of operation, Big Brothers Big Sisters of East Central Ohio is looking for more mentors for area youth.
First founded in 1973, the East Central office serves both Tuscarawas and Carroll Counties, and mentors boys and girls in the community and through their school-based programming.
CEO Beverly Pearch says that over the past five decades, their reach has diversified with children from all kinds of backgrounds and that their numbers continue to grow.
Surveys conducted with little’s during their matches analyze academic performance, emotional regulation, family connection, and risk avoidance reflect improving outcomes on nearly all pairings, according to Pearch.
“We see a lot of really good results that are coming from the children that are matched in our programs. Typically, out of all of those constructs, we see about 95-percent are either maintaining where they are, or showing growth in four of the eight outcome areas.”
From 2021 to 2022, she estimates a 25-percent increase in the number of children served by their office, with 426 local youth involved in some form of programming.
Pearch urges anyone interested in being a mentor to someone in the community to contact their office. At this time, 26 children are searching for their big.
Upcoming fundraisers and events for BBBS include the Cheers for Charity in February which includes a euchre tournament and steak dinner, and the Bowl for Kids’ Sake campaign in March.
More information is available at www.bigs4kids.org and on their Facebook page.
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