Big Brothers Big Sisters of Butler County

I have been a Big Brother for 3+ years. The experience is both challenging and rewarding. What do you do as a Big Brother? Open up your world to a young person that is struggling through poverty or a challenging upbringing. Show them that the sky is the limit. I find myself learning as much from him as he is hopefully learning from me.

Big Brothers Big Sisters is very supportive all the way through their process. I was trained about being a mentor and then interviewed about my preferences for what type of child I would like to be placed with. My little sister is GREAT! Her family is so happy that I am helping her and the BBBS staff is always checking in to support me and provide resources. I highly recommend it!

The general process for volunteering is: Call them and interview at their office. One person is in charge of gathering info about you and setting up a match with a Little, then someone else sees you through the first year. I was happy with the process until it came time for the actual match. The description given of the Little and family (safety-wise) was quite different than what I actually saw. There was a lot of pressure to continue the match even though I felt scared to go again, being I was being told I would let the child down, etc. My advice to future volunteers is to watch out for yourself, listen to your gut AND DO NOT ACCEPT PRESSURE. This might bring you into neighborhoods and situations you would never choose on your own. If you are uncomfortable, leave immediately, because there are real risks. The match process focused on the safety of the Little but not much on the Big's welfare. If safety is a big concern, the school-based programs may be another option.