Guest Blogger: Mentor Barbara Elliott

Written by Barbara Elliott

I retired recently and volunteered for the Big Brothers Big Sisters Mentoring Program last September for the first time.  I have two friends who have mentored kids and thought it sounded like a fun thing to do.  I easily manage one hour a week at the local school my mentee attends.  Both her teacher and family members have told me how much our visits mean to this little girl.  All we do is hang out and play together, but she is always so happy to see me.

We have baked cookies, played in the gym and playground, read and played games.  She is very creative and spontaneous and always comes up with inventive things to do.  I never know what to expect!  We have a nice friendship developing and both look forward to continuing to meet in September. 

Best regards,

Barbara Elliott

If you're interested in learning more information about our mentoring programs, please call Cheryl Holmes at 905-985-3733 ext 2. 

Our Programs

If you're not familiar with how our different programs work, I'm going to break them down really easy for you:

The Traditional Program

• You see your mentee once a week for 3-4 hours in the community. You have your choice of doing whatever you want!

The In-School Mentoring (ISM) Program

• You see your mentee once a week for 1 hour (no more) on school property, during school hours, for the duration of the school year.

Go Girls

•   You follow a 7-week program with a group of 6-8 girls, for 1 hour/week for 7 weeks on school property during school hours.

Game On

• You follow a 7-week program with a group of 6-8 boys, for 1 hour/week for 7 weeks on school property during school hours.

 Kids in Motion

•  You develop your own 7-week program (or follow one of ours, options now are: crafts, sports) with a group of 6-10 boys and girls for 1 hour/week for 7 weeks on school property during school hours.

Pretty basic right? Well what if you're in the ISM Program but you want to spend time with your mentee during the summer? 

Usually, that would be against our rules, but if you're registered in BOTH the Traditional and ISM Programs, you can see your mentee for the 1 hour during the school year as usual, then you can take them out in the summer, too! This program is great if you've developed a good relationship with your mentee and you want to see them in those summer months or if you just want to take them places off school property!

 

If this, or any of our programs sounds like it would be a good fit for you, please call our office more information! Cheryl Holmes, Programs Manager, 905-985-3733 ext. 2.

For more information on our programs or our organization, please visit our website here.