By ROD ZOOK
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Big Brothers Big Sisters of Reno County has been working hard to find mentors for youth in the area, but right now the waiting list is about 50 children. The organization is working to fill the open slots. Joe Young with Big Brothers Big Sisters says there are two ways to be a Big in the organization.
“We have what is called a community-based match. That is where you would meet with you little and you would go out and do activities,” Young said. “We also have what is called the site-based match. We have some Bigs that will go into the schools and meet with kids.”
If a child might benefit from Big Brothers Big Sisters, you can get the matching process going right away.
“Anybody that has a Little that would like to be involved in the program, you just have to contact us,” Young said. “We get a little bit of information about the family and then we'll come in and do an interview with the family.”
One area that has been a benefit to the agency is the Bigs in Blue program, which involves local law enforcement.
“We have a couple of officers that are involved in the program,” Young said. “Some of those officers, they have Littles that they meet with, some of them do site-based programs and some of them do community-based programs.”
If you are considering being a Big, there are a few steps that need to be taken to volunteer your time:
“We do an interview with them (potential Big) and get to know them a little bit. We also do background checks on everyone,” Young said. “Then we’ll have them come into the office and get to know them and then look at Littles. That process really doesn’t take that long.”
For more information on how you can be a Big or help in another way, go to kansasbigs.org or call the Reno County Big Brothers Big Sisters locally at 620-662-8161.
CLICK HERE to download the Hutch Post mobile app.
CLICK HERE to sign up for the daily Hutch Post email news update.