Big Brothers Big Sisters of The North Coast is launching its “60 Mentors in 60 Days” campaign, beginning Nov. 1, and is seeking new mentors.
“This campaign is dedicated to recruiting mentors as a proven way to help young people achieve their full potential within our community,” said Florence Parks, the executive director of the local branch of Big Brothers Big Sisters, in a prepared statement. “The service we provide is an impactful experience for a matched Big (mentor) and Little (mentee). Our participants are the volunteers, parents, youth, organizations and community members who support our efforts.”
Humboldt County has the highest percentage of students who have suffered traumatic experiences in their lives, a news release from the organization stated. It added that research shows those traumatic experiences have an impact on the educational and emotional health of students.
“This will dramatically impact their opportunities in life – unless we can intervene. Mentoring is as much fun to do, as it is critical for our community,” the release stated.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the North Coast is particularly interested in recruiting more volunteers who are men.
“We have 60 youth waiting to be matched,” Parks said. “The ratio of boys to girls waiting for a volunteer Big is 75 and 47, respectively. The biggest change can’t be put into numbers — with the community’s continued support we impact the way children grow up on the North Coast.”
The Big Brothers Big Sisters organization has more than 110 years of service nationally and more than 50 years of service locally to the North Coast community.
For more information about becoming a mentor, call 707-445-4871.
