Big Brothers Big Sisters of … Little Moments. Big Magic. Good morning. Thank you all for coming and the opportunity to be with you today. My name is John Doe and I’d like to tell you a little bit about Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Who are we? BBBS is the oldest, largest, most successful youth mentoring organization in America Since 1904 Over 200,000 children served in 2003 Measured positive outcomes Big Brothers Big Sisters is the oldest, largest and most successful youth mentoring organization in America. In 1904, Ernest Coulter, court clerk and organizer of the first New York Children’s Court, founded the organized Big Brothers movement by obtaining 39 adult volunteers, who each agreed to befriend one boy. At about the same time, the Ladies of Charity (later, the Catholic Big Sisters of New York) started to befriend young girls who came before the New York Children’s Court. From these humble beginnings, we’ve grown to serving over 200,000 children in more than 5,000 communities in all 50 states. Most importantly, the positive results we achieve have been validated by the Public/Private Ventures Impact Study that confirmed significant improvement by Little Brothers and Little Sisters in a number of critical behaviors. What we’re doing works!

What do we do? We’re matchmakers! We help children in our local community reach their potential through mentoring friendships with caring adult volunteers. And, what is it that we do? Simply put, we’re matchmakers. We match local children in need with caring adult volunteers to help forge positive mentoring friendships. Despite the origin of our movement, these kids are not juvenile delinquents. They are kids, usually in single-parent homes and often in challenging circumstances, that simply need an adult role model that will help them begin to see their potential and feel better about themselves.

How do we do it? One-to-One Professionally Supported - We carefully screen each “Big” volunteer to ensure a good match with a “Little” Professionally Supported Our skilled, qualified professionals provide ongoing match support Leadership by Example through Friendship So, what sets us apart from other mentoring organizations? Primarily, two things. First, we focus on carefully matched, one-to-one relationships. We thoroughly screen each child and volunteer to determine common interests that will form the foundation of a good relationship. Secondly, high service standards requiring qualified, skilled professionals to meet specific match support objectives ensure that each match has the best chance of success. The result is a match that provides leadership by example through friendship.

Why do we do it? Our aim is to help develop good citizens of tomorrow by helping good kids today – we don’t correct troubled children, we help prevent them Why is this important? Because it helps develop the self confidence needed for these kids to, first believe in their potential, and then to realize it. In so doing, they ultimately become positive, productive citizens in our own community. This is done even more effectively because we are not rehabilitating wayward children, but rather we’re serving children who want to be mentored and who want to see their opportunities.

What a Big is A good person Someone who cares about others Someone willing to help others A playmate A friend As we strive to achieve this aim, one of our biggest challenges is the misperception that it’s too hard to qualify as a mentor – that somehow Bigs are expected to be perfect examples of every ideal. In reality, a Big is simply a good person – someone who cares about others, is willing to share time and help others, and to just be a friend.

What a Big is NOT A Santa Claus A Saint A Superhero A Big is not expected to be some larger than life superhero. Nor is he or she expected to be saintly or to shower their Little with gifts. The best friends are those who are comfortable with each other, trust each other and sincerely care for each other. Those are things that matter most.

What’s in it for your Little? A Friend A positive adult role model A better chance And, when these relationships take hold, the benefits become clear. The Little gets a friend, which none of us can have too many of. They get a positive role model – a realistic example of good citizenship that they can relate to. They get a better chance to reach their potential by knowing that someone other than their family can believe in them and enjoy their company.

What’s in it for you? A Friend A reminder of how to play A better community And, guess what? You get a friend too! Someone who helps you remember how much fun being a kid can be. In the end, you get a better community to live in because you have helped make someone better and greatly increased the likelihood that he or she will do the same for others. The power of this multiplying effect cannot be measured, but we know it’s there. And, it’s doubly beneficial because every young person that follows the positive guidance of a mentor is one less to take a negative path.

What’s in it for your community? Positive, productive citizens of tomorrow Public/Private Venture Impact Study: 49% less likely to begin using illegal drugs 27% less likely to start drinking 52% less likely to skip school 37% less likely to skip class 1/3 less likely to hit someone 50+% of mentored kids showed improved school performance, more positive attitudes toward school, improved peer relationships and greater self-confidence Thus, our communities benefit as well. The Public/Private Venture Impact Study of Big Brothers Big Sisters clearly validates these benefits. The study showed that Little Brothers and Little Sisters were: 49% less likely to begin using illegal drugs 27% less likely to start drinking 52% less likely to skip school 37% less likely to skip class 1/3 less likely to hit someone Over half showed improvement in school performance and relationships, and greater self-confidence. These are the behaviors and characteristics of young people who finish school, grow up, get jobs, raise families and participate positively in our society.

What is the need? Xx,xxx - kids locally that are at risk Xxx - our goal for kids served in 2004 Xxx - our goal for kids served in 2010 Xxx – kids locally that have Bigs today Xxx – kids locally that have requested service and are waiting for a mentor to be found $xxx,xxx – our current budget, which is not sufficient to fund the growth needed to meet our goals I hope by now you can see the power and the hope Big Brothers Big Sisters brings to the children we serve, and what that can mean for all of us. But, here’s the problem. Xx,xxx children in our area are considered at risk. That is, they are in circumstances (e.g., single-parent homes, low income – high crime communities, etc.) that make them more vulnerable to negative influences. Our goals are to serve xxx (or 5%) of these kids by 2004 and x,xxx (10%) by 2010. Yet, we are only serving xxx today. In addition, another xxx children are waiting for a mentor that we have not yet been able to find and recruit; and some of these kids have been waiting for more than a year! Our $xxx,xxx budget is barely enough to fund the program at current levels. In other words, we are only serving a small fraction of the children in our area that need a mentor. In fact, we are not even serving all of the smaller fraction of children that have asked for one. Our resources are insufficient to develop the systems needed to successfully recruit these volunteers or to pay for the additional staff needed to support the number of matches we should be serving. In short, we need help!

What can you do? Become a Big! Donate Serve on our Board Build a partnership with your company, church, school or civic organization to: Recruit Bigs Recruit donors Sponsor an event Have some fun! What kind of help? Volunteer mentors and donations, obviously. But, we also need people with influence in the community, access to certain constituencies, and possessing certain skills to serve on our Board. You can also help us create partnerships with your organizations, where we can bring our story to larger groups. And, as you come to share our passion for helping these kids, you can have some fun as well.

Why Big Brothers Big Sisters? Prevention is Your Best Investment $xxx - average monthly cost of drug or alcohol intervention programs $xxx - average monthly cost of juvenile detention $xxx - difference in annual income between dropouts and those who finish high school $1,000 - average cost to make and support a BBBS match for one year Do the Math! Prevention is Your Best Investment So, you say, “Okay, now I understand the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, but why should I invest in it over other worthy youth service programs?” First, you should invest in the program you can feel most passionate about, whatever that may be. I hope I’ve given you ample reason to become passionate about Big Brothers Big Sisters. But if you need practical reinforcement, consider these statistics: The average monthly cost of drug or alcohol intervention programs is about $xxx. The average monthly cost of juvenile detention in our state is $xxx. The difference in average annual income between dropouts and those who finish high school is $xxx And the average cost to make and support a Big Brothers Big Sisters match for one year is $1,000. You do the math! Big Brothers Big Sisters is simply the best return on your investment because you’re helping the kids that have not yet chosen a negative path. They are the least expensive to help and their likely outcome is the brightest. If you believe that our children really are our future; if you care about their welfare; and if you care about the character of your future fellow citizens; then, what better investment can you make?

Why get involved? Help a kid Help a family Help a school Help your community Have some fun! (and for you hardcore business types, remember, it’s a good deal too!) I hope you do care about these things. If so, please consider getting involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters in whatever way is best for you. You now know who we are, what we do, how we do it, why we think it’s the best youth service value, and what our needs are. The only thing left is for you is to ask yourself, “Should I get involved?” If, for whatever reason, you choose not to get involved with us, I hope you’ll consider working with some other organization that will help, even if in a small way, make our world a better place. Thank you for your time and attention; and please feel free to call us to discuss how you might like to help.