Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mercer County is holding its annual spring picnic on Thursday, June 15, at the Court Games Pavilion South in Hamilton’s Veterans Park at 5 p.m.
In addition to celebrating the more than 300 Matches that BBBS-Mercer has supported this year, the event will serve to officially launch its “Great Guys Mentor” recruitment campaign, which is aimed at encouraging more men to volunteer as mentors.
As incentive, any Great Guy who completes an application to volunteer at the event will be entered to win a set of four X-Box Controllers along with a gift card to the X-Box store.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on volunteering in the U.S., with many people unable to volunteer due to social distancing measures and other restrictions. According to a recent report by the Corporation for National and Community Service, volunteerism in the U.S. declined by 4.3 percentage points in 2020, the largest year-over-year decline since the organization began tracking volunteerism in 2002.
“One in three young people grow up without a mentor today,” said Executive Director Kate Noonan. “Mentoring is a proven intervention that reduces the number of youth disconnected from school and work and increases their social and economic mobility. Male mentors are critical to our program and our community.”
The “Great Guys Mentor” campaign aims to raise awareness about the need for male mentors and to encourage men to volunteer and become BBBS-Mercer Bigs. BBBS-Mercer currently has a waiting list of 50 youth, 37 of whom are boys or young men, and some of whom have been on the list for more than a year. They are all desperately hoping to find a mentor. The campaign will include outreach to local businesses, churches, sports groups, influencers, community organizations, and social media platforms.
“We know that the pandemic has made it more difficult for people to volunteer, but we also know that there are many Great Guys out there who want to make a difference,” said Tara Belford, BBBS-Mercer’s director of community based programs. “We want to show them that they have the power to positively influence a child’s life by reinforcing and encouraging a young person’s better instincts. And that it doesn’t take a huge time commitment but comes with amazing rewards.”
Noonan added, “We believe that highlighting and celebrating those Great Guys in our community who have made time to mentor might just convince some other Great Guys to sign up.”
Mentoring as a Big with BBBS-Mercer requires a minimum commitment of five hours a month over the course of at least one year. More information, as well as an online application can be found at www.mercerbbbs.org.
