Meet at Past Match: Marg & Cody - Together for over 25 years!

 Marg & Cody 

(Photos were taken by Daniel Cullen Photography)

Story by: Krista Webb

Marg and Cody’s story is truly inspiring.  They were first matched back in 2000, when Cody was just 10 years old and Marg was old enough to be his grandmother. But despite the age difference between the pair, their relationship blossomed right after they met. Flash-forward 16 years, and Marg and Cody still have a really special relationship. So special, in fact, that last year Cody moved in with Marg and her husband, Roger, and he refers to Marg as his “grandma”. 

Their relationship has been different than most matches since the very beginning. Cody was a sweet, kind, sensitive young boy who loved having an adult friend to hang out with just him for an hour every week. Marg, who is a very kind and caring woman, got along with Cody right off the bat. They talked, drew pictures, painted, played cards, and made up fun games. 

Marg and Cody’s In-School Mentoring match was closed when Cody finished grade 7, but their relationship didn’t stop there. They continued to see each other outside of school, and soon became a part of each other’s families. Marg would watch Cody’s hockey games and take him to baseball games and wrestling matches, and Cody would spend time at Marg and Roger’s cottage. 

Cody only has nice things to say about Marg and how she’s affected him. “She’s been a constant presence in my life. To this day she’s one of the only people I can count on.”

Marg and Roger have mentored many in their lives, and they’ve invited quite a few non-family members to live with them over the past 40 years, so it’s really no surprise that Marg’s non-biological Little Brother now lives with her and her husband in Port Perry. Roger has also become an unofficial mentor to Cody over the years, and Cody looks up to him a lot, too.

Marg acknowledges that Cody wasn’t the only one getting something out of their match. “It’s very rewarding to see someone grow up and do well, when it could have gone so differently,” says Marg. Cody says that he thinks his life would have been “1,000 % different” if he had never met Marg. He admits he got into some trouble in high school and knew he was going down a bad path, but when he decided to change his ways, it was partially due to the fact that he didn’t want to disappoint Marg and Roger. 

Marg has encouraged Cody to continue his education, and he has plans to attend Durham College in the fall for the Fitness and Health Promotion program. Marg is so proud of the young man Cody has become. They both agree that Marg gave him confidence, and by supporting him in whatever he did, she has helped shape him into the person he is today. 

If you're interested in learning more information about the Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring programs, please call Cheryl Doyle at 905-985-3733 ext 2, or visit www.BigBrothersBigSisters.ca/NorthDurham.

Meet a Match: Margie & Matthew

 Margie & Matthew 

Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Durham’s (BBBSND) Executive Director, Margaret (Margie) Ayres, took on the responsibility of being a mentor to Matthew in March 2013. “I wanted a better understanding of how the programs benefited the children and ultimately, I wanted to be a mentor for the same reason as everyone else: I wanted to support a child in our community” says Margie. 

Margie and Matthew started out in the In-School Mentoring (ISM) program in the last few months of Matthew’s grade 6 year. During their time together, they’ve done a bunch of different activities including cooking pizzas and baking cookies, painting bird houses for Father’s Day, playing hangman and Dogopoly, playing basketball, and sometimes just sitting and chatting. Margie’s favourite pastime in their match is when Matthew is putting together a Lego sculpture “he’s so good at it, reading all the instructions carefully, and patient with it, too, unlike me” says Margie. Margie thinks Matthews favourite thing to do is play Dogopoly “because he always wins and takes all my Monopoly money” Margie jokes.

Margie says she likes spending time with Matthew because he’s very appreciative of her coming every week and he’s always so polite. “He’s also got quite the sense of humour, he’s quite sarcastic, but always making me laugh,” says Margie. Margie explains that Matthew’s dad is also very kind to her “Every time I call Matthew’s dad, he’s always very thankful for me hanging out with Matthew, and so that’s really nice to hear.”

In July of 2015, Margie and Matthew semi-transitioned to the Traditional Program, meaning that she mainly sees him once a week in the school, but she can see him in the summer outside of school. Their first Traditional outing was to Joyride 150 on Matthew’s birthday! Margie brought her son and a couple of his friends to ride around with Matthew. Margie said they rode their bikes around for 7 hours and they all loved it! Margie plans on bringing Matthew along to a lot of BBBSND events so that he can see what it means to give back to the community.

When asked about what kind of relationship she thinks they have, Margie said that they are friends. She has fun with him and can count on him, and vice versa. “I think he really enjoys it when I come see him. He always wants me to stay longer than the 1 hour I’m supposed to stay,” says Margie.  

Even though Matthew has recently been matched with a Big Brother who has more time to spend with him outside of school, Margie and Matthew are going to continue seeing each other in school, as well as occasionally outside of school.

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

Photos were taken by the amazing Daniel Cullen. 

Big & Little Pictures

We are so lucky to have been approached by local photographer Daniel Cullen to take pictures of our Bigs & Littles!

Here's a peek at some of the awesome shots he got of our matches.

 

Guest Blogger: Little Sister, Amanda and Big Sister, Lis

Guest Bloggers: Little Sister Amanda and Big Sister Lis

Amanda: Mine and Lis's relationship is a very strong thing. Lis is everything I could ever look for in a big sister. Our relationship is what other kids dream for and wish they had, I really appreciate everything she and Big Brothers Big Sisters has done for me.

A couple years ago when I was first registered for the program I was going through a hard time, but when I was matched with Lis things started to get better. She encourage me to do a lot of things and she also helped me cope with my anxiety by bringing me out to places and helping me meet new people. Now that its 2015 our friendship is still going very strong. She is still getting me to meet new people and getting me to take risks and getting  me to try new things. Every time we are out doing something we always have a good laugh even laughing at the small things. Lis is like another friend - she is always caring and she tries to understand everything I talk about or even if I'm explaining something. She always tries to understand. I am so glad I can call on her as a big sister/friend.

I am also so glad I was registered to Big Brothers Big Sisters and meet someone like Lis.

Lis: Amanda is a wonderful girl with lots of great character and a beautiful personality. She is very caring toward all her friends and loves to have a good time. She is naturally physically very strong and a true country girl. She makes me laugh when she fights new adventures but realizes she is very capable of doing so, like tree-trekking or canoeing. She has a special touch when it comes to matching up her clothes, she always looks great. And her hair is beautiful.

I love watching Amanda finding herself and learning to love who she is. I feel very fortunate she has picked me to be her friend and sister.

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