As National Mentoring Month came to a close, our Bigs & Little celebrated their mentoring relationships on Saturday with a potluck lunch. Matches were asked to bring a dish that reflected their ethnic heritage or a favorite dish the pair likes to eat or make together. The recipes and the names of the "chefs" that created them were made into a booklet for each match to bring home. Twenty matches attended the event and enjoyed American, African American, Columbian, Puerto Rican, Italian and Korean dishes. A few unique items created included Sister Cookies and Sloppy Josès!

As part of National Mentoring Month, Big Brothers Big Sisters participated in Take Your Little to Work Day.This day was a chance for our Littles to experience the typical workday for their Big and learn more about their career. Check out the photos!

Big Sister Stephanie, a teacher, had her Little Sister Teonna join her in the classroom for the day. Little Sister Teaonna had a great time and wrote the following about her experience. "Well, on the 13th day of January 2012, I went to Stephanie's work place. She works at an elementary school in Williamsville. She is a very fun teacher and her job is so awesome. I had so much fun with her today. I was remembering that I was in the 5th and 6th grade a few years back. I am having a great time. Stephanie is one of the best role models ever. I want to be a math teacher when I graduate from college. Today was fun!!"

Big Brother Ernie and his Little Brother Luis also enjoyed the afternoon at his work place. Ernie is the Head of Security and Safety at the Albright Knox Art Gallery. Little Brother Luis has visited his Big Brother at work before but Take Your Little To Work Day was different. Big Brother Ernie put his Little Brother Luis to work, allowing him a chance to experience what his day is truly like.

A BIG thanks to all of our Bigs that participated and offered their Littles this unique educational and fun opportunity!

Twenty of our Little Brothers and Little Sisters enjoyed the Buffalo Bills Annual Children's Holiday Party. The Jim Kelly Club at the stadium was transformed into a winter wonderland with trees, holiday scenes and even a working "Polar Express" train for the kids to ride!  The children also enjoyed having dinner with the Bills and the Jills.  After dinner, Santa arrived bringing each child a bag full of gifts!  A few of our kids were surprised when several of the Bills, working as Santa's helpers, came riding out to give them their very own new bike! A BIG thanks to the Buffalo Bills players, the Jills, the staff and their families for making this wonderfully generous and memorable event possible.

Just in time for the winter weather, TransitowneUSA representatives presented warm winter hats, gloves and scarves to the children involved in BBBSEC at a pancake breakfast with their mentors on Saturday,December 10th at the Niagara Frontier American Legion Post. TransitowneUSA collected the winter accessories during their “A Little Warmth Makes a BIG Difference” campaign held at all of their locations in November.  TransitowneUSA customers received a gift certificate for a free oil change for bringing in a donation to benefit a child in BBBSEC.

In addition to enjoying a delicious breakfast and receiving the winter accessories, each child also made a snowman measuring stick craft to take home and measure the latest snowfall!

BBBBSEC was one of fourteen charities that support children to receive a generous donation of $5,000.00 from Pizza Hut's Raising Dough for Kids Charity. The "dough" was raised in the local Pizza Hut stores through contributions from their customers in change canisters and various other fundraisers throughout the year. The donation we received will be used to continue our successful Site-Based Mentoring Programs that match Big Brother and Big Sister volunteers with children at the Belle Center and Enterprise Charter School.

A special thank you to the members of Elmwood Kiwanis for sponsoring a special day for 10 of the children involved in BBBSEC at Build A Bear. Each child was able to create a bear of their very own with their Big Brother or Big Sister looking on! As you can see from the smiles in the photos, for each Little their new furry friend is already very special. Again, a special thanks to the Elmwood Kiwanis for making this event possible!

The first mixer hosted by our Big Mirror Initiative Committee at The 2nd Cup Café in downtown Buffalo was a BIG success. Over 50 guests joined us throughout the evening to learn more about our initiative to provide a more diverse pool of mentors to the children in our program. Guests that evening included community members and representatives from several local corporations, political offices and professional organizations. Everyone enjoyed networking with like minded individuals and 9 guests signed up to become Bigs!

Currently, 0ver 80% of the children waiting for a Big Brother or Big Sister identify themselves as an ethnicity other than Caucasian. The goal of the Big Mirror Initiative is to provide a mentor, if the child wishes, of the same ethnic background.

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, a group of Bigs, Littles and staff marched along side of our decorated Ford Friendship Van in the Puerto Rican Day parade. Our marchers handed out lollipops that included our contact information on the stick. It was a terrific parade and we had a wonderful time!

A group of matches enjoyed a beautiful summer day aboard the Grand Lady docked at the Holiday Inn in Grand Island! The 2-hour cruise included points of interest on the Buffalo shoreline and interesting facts about Buffalo's waterways. For many of the kids this was their first time on a boat. A special thanks to the Holiday Inn-Grand Island for generously donating the delicious lunch served while we were aboard!

BBBSEC received a donation of a Ford Flex through the Friendship Express program provided by the Ford Dealers of WNY. The vehicle will be used to transport groups of boys in our Partners for Youth program to different activities and events. Additionally, we will use it for small group outings for matches in our Site-Based and Community-Based programs. Thank you to the Ford Dealers of WNY for helping us broaden the horizons of our kids with a new set of wheels!

Bigs, Littles and friends of the program honored BBBSEC Founder the late Robert F. Moss at a recent Buffalo Bisons game. Our President and CEO David T. Hore and Board Member De Moss, wife of the late Robert F. Moss, accepted a $1500.00 check in Bob's honor from the Buffalo Bisons. Our guests also enjoyed watching a Big & Little throw out the first pitch on the field!

Over 125 guests that included Bigs & Littles, staff and our Board Members and their families enjoyed our Annual Welcome Summer Picnic this year. A wonderful barbecue meal was prepared by Mr. G's Catering for our guests. New this year was a visit from the BlueCross BlueShield Healthy Zone Cruiser. The cruiser was stocked with hula-hoops, paddleballs and other fun equipment for our Littles to enjoy that promote exercise and wellness. Our Bigs and Littles also had a great time participating in our annual picnic activity favorites like tug of war, carnival games and crafts. A special thank you to the volunteers from Bank of America who donated their time to run all of these activities!

Bank of America presented a $16,000 check at the Books & Breakfast event on Saturday, May 14th for our Bigs & Littles. The funds donated by Bank of America will provide more children the opportunity to be matched with a mentor through BBBSEC's Community Based Mentoring (CBM) program.

In addition to the funds donated, a team of twelve Bank of America employees distributed books collected during a drive held in April and early May to our Littles. The group also volunteered to serve breakfast and help with activities. Over 50 Big Brothers Big Sisters matches enjoyed the pancake breakfast, and book donation. Additionally, tips and tidbits of information about healthy breakfast choices were on each table. The children completed a puzzle based on this information to receive a bag of healthy breakfast items to take home. The food in the bag included products donated by Upstate Farms Cooperative.

A group of Little Brothers and Littles Sisters were surprised with new bikes from Invitrogen Life Technologies located on Grand Island. The donation was part of Global Volunteer Week. During this week, Life Technologies companies in all regions select projects in an effort to impact the community.

We were delighted to be one of the many projects completed during the week by local Life Technologies employees. In advance, the height of each child was sent to the company so they could purchase bike-building kits and employee teams assembled each bike! Our Littles, along with their Bigs, visited Life Technologies to receive their new set of wheels. For several of the children, this was their first bike! Following the bike presentation, the group received a behind the scenes tour of Life Technologies.

Our sincere thanks to Life Technologies and their employee volunteers for the generous donation and for making the day so special for our kids!

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Erie County (BBBSEC) teamed up with the five local Kohl’s Department Stores for Kohl’s National Go Green Event (NGG) in celebration of National Volunteer Week and Earth Day. On Sunday, May 1st, more than 40 Kohl’s associates participated in a one-day volunteer project at The Belle Center located on Buffalo’s Lower West Side.  The Kohl’s associates spread soil, planted bushes and flowers at the center.  Several BBBS staff and a Big Brother & Little Brother match joined the effort. Following their hard work, the group enjoyed lunch and the opportunity to view the changes they made to the outside appearance of the center. 

A grant will be awarded to BBBSEC’s Site-Based Mentoring Program located at The Belle Center  in recognition of the volunteer efforts of associates from the five local Kohl’s locations: Buffalo, East Amherst, Lancaster, North Amherst and Orchard Park.  The NGG event was made possible through Kohl’s Associates in the Action Volunteer Program. In the program, Kohl’s volunteers support youth-serving nonprofit organizations by participating in an environmentally based activity, and Kohl’s matches those efforts with corporate grants.

Our Bigs & Littles enjoyed a fun night of roller skating to some cool tunes at Depew Skating Center. Some of our Bigs & Littles were seasoned skaters, while several put on skates or roller blades for the first time ever! It was wonderful to see our matches work together to help those new to skating make it around the rink. In some cases, our Littles were a BIG help in keeping their Bigs staying upright! Of course, there were a few fancy skating moves, a few spills and lots of laughs! All would agree it was a great night full of fun and memories!

Over 50 Big Brothers and Big Sisters and their Littles celebrated National Thank Your Mentor Day at a dinner, craft and activity night held at the Niagara Frontier American Legion Post. As matches arrived, they had their photos taken and printed. The pictures were then put into frames that our Little Brothers and Sisters created that night as a thank you gift for their mentor. Additionally, our matches enjoyed a terrific dinner by Mr. G's catering and playing games. Again, a special thanks to all of our Bigs for making a difference and helping the kids in our program reach their full potential!

Wegmans Food Markets sponsored 10 matches from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Erie County for a healthy eating/cooking workshop titled "Food & Friendship" at the Sheridan Drive location in Williamsville. The goal of the workshop was to spread the "Eat Well. Live Well." message in a fun and interactive class. Taught by a trained Wegmans staff member, the workshop was a hands-on experience for the Little Brothers and Little Sisters, ages 6-10, and their mentors. The 90-minute session included a tour of the produce section, trying new fruits and making recipes that could be duplicated in future outings between the child and their Big Brother or Big Sister mentor. The matches enjoyed helping in food preparation of simple recipes and learning about making healthier food choices.

The "Food & Friendship" workshop was donated by Wegmans in celebration of National Mentoring Month. Four of the Bigs, who participated in the program with their Littles, are Wegman's employees! Thank you to Wegmans for sharing with us this wonderful opportunity and your incredible employees as volunteers for our program!

As part of National Mentoring Month, First Niagara announced Big Brothers Big Sisters of Erie County as one of eleven Western New York area organizations selected as grant recipients of First Niagara's fourth annual Mentoring Matters program. During a news conference held at Enterprise Charter School, a total of $150,000 was awarded to support organized mentoring efforts in the Western New York community. The funds received by Big Brothers Big Sisters will support matches like Little Sister Maggie and her Big Sister Cymantha at the Site-Based Mentoring program at Enterprise Charter School. Little Sister Maggie shared, "It's nice have a special friend that's mine. She likes to be creative like me and I can talk to her about school, my baby brother or anything that I want to talk about." The two enjoy making crafts and playing games. Additionally, they spend 15 minutes of each weekly visit reading. This extra time and support has been a big help to Maggie academically and personally! Our sincere appreciation to First Niagara for helping us to make this relationship possible for Little Sister Maggie and all of the youth involved in our Enterprise Charter School program.

We recently received a grant through the Kelly for Kids Foundation. Founded by former Buffalo Bills Quarterback Jim Kelly, the foundation helps to improve the quality of life for disabled and disadvantaged children in Western New York. The grant will support our Site-Based Mentoring program that pairs youth with a Big Brother or Big Sister to share a friendship and participate in educational, recreational and cultural activities at a local school or community center. During the grant presentation Mr. Kelly mentioned the importance a special friend and mentor can have in a child's life. He also recognized Kelly for Kids Foundation employee Patricia Cavalier for serving as a volunteer Big Sister. Big Brothers Big Sisters extends its gratitude to Jim Kelly and the Kelly for Kids Foundation for their generosity.

As part of National Mentoring Month, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Erie County will kick-off an effort on Monday, January 10th to find 50 Guys in 5 Days to sign up as new Big Brother mentors through a promotion with WGR-550 AM and Santora’s Pizza Pub & Grill.  WGR-550 morning show personality and Big Brother Jeremy White, in a number of live and taped radio ads from January 10th – January 14th, will encourage male listeners to “join the team” by visiting the Big Brothers Big Sisters website and signing up.

Additionally, during the 5-day effort, WGR-550 will break from their usual sports format on Wednesday, January 12th from 7 PM – 9 PM for a special live show hosted by Jeremy White at Santora’s Pizza Pub & Grill on Millersport in Amherst.  Individuals interested in learning more about becoming a Big Brother can stop by the Millersport Santora’s location to learn more from Big Brother Jeremy White during the show and enjoy extended Happy Hour specials.  Learn More

WGR-550 radio listeners that evening can expect a special call to the show from Buffalo Sabres Captain Craig Rivet and former Buffalo Bill Jim Kelly. Both will discuss their support of the Big Brothers effort to recruit more male mentors and share personal views on the importance of mentors in the lives of children.  There will also be testimonials from area Big Brothers and Little Brothers. Listeners will be encouraged to call-in with questions.  Big Brothers Big Sisters of Erie County will also have staff on hand to answer calls at the agency’s main office for listeners interested in signing up that night.

The 50 Guys in 5 Days promotion was devised out of a large need for more male mentors for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Erie County.  Currently, only 2 of every 10 inquiries to become a mentor are male.  As such, the waiting list of Little Brothers is twice as long as that of Little Sisters.

EAT PIZZA. GIVE BACK! In addition to Santora’s support during the 50 Guys in 5 Days promotion, throughout the month Santora’s will donate a portion of the sale of every large pizza to Big Brothers Big Sisters! Learn More