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Thanks to People Like You...
Thanks to people like you, Wilbert (pictured above) started the New Year with a Big Brother. And just days after meeting his Big Brother, the two got the chance to experience the Outback Bowl. Generous local alumni from Michigan State University donated 20 tickets, plus t-shirts and refreshments for our Littles! We're looking forward to a year of matching lots more kids like Wilbert with mentors.
Thanks to people like you, we can look back at 2011's accomplishments with pride. Once again, 96% of our kids graduated to the next grade level and 99% of them stayed out of the juvenile justice system. Whether you're a donor, advocate, volunteer or board member, you helped make that happen.
Thanks to people like you, we find ourselves telling friends and even complete strangers why working for Big Brothers Big Sisters is the best job in the world. Here's just one example, a story about a donor from our Chief Development Officer, De Anna Sheffield Ward: "Graham and his five siblings each received $500 from their parents to give away. They were tasked with doing research to find a charity to donate to, and on his own, Graham selected our agency by going to our website, researching Charity Navigator, watching videos about our agency and finding out other information online....Did I mention that Graham is five years old?" Ah, the wisdom of children!
2012 Bigs of the Year
We're exceedingly proud to announce our 2012 Big Brother of the Year, Brent White, and our 2012 Big Sister of the Year, Nicole McNally. Brent has been mentoring his Little Brother, Jaime, for nearly seven years. Jaime has turned to Brent to work through problems in his life that he was unwilling to talk about with anyone else. And Brent can't stop talking about his smart, hard working and talented Little Brother. Brent recently watched his Little Brother perform in the band on the same high school stage Brent once performed on!
Nicole (who also happens to be the Director of Grant Writing and Management for our agency) has been mentoring her Little Sister, Neila, for just over four years and has been welcomed into Neila's family as another daughter. Neila's teachers know Nicole, too. When they were first matched, Neila was disinterested in school, having failed a grade and been cited for behavioral issues. Nicole has turned Neila's attitude towards school around to the point where Neila is now a successful middle school student looking forward to attending college. Nicole plans to be around to cheer Neila on through all her achievements and successes in life.
WE'RE CELEBRATING NATIONAL MENTORING MONTH
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By encouraging our Bigs to bring their Little to work or do a project together on the National Day of Service.
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National OJJDP Grants Will Allow us to Serve More Youth
in the Tampa Bay Area
We are starting off the year with two new grants from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in Washington, D.C. This funding allows us to provide mentorship to nearly 150 new youth who are high risk and living in Dade City, Winter Haven or have a parent on active duty in the military. As we all know, national funds are scarce right now, so this funding reflects a strong vote of confidence in Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay's ability to reduce juvenile crime and increase graduation rates in our community. We are recruiting new volunteers now--please help us spread the word! Interested volunteers can click here to apply online.
Priceless
One of our Big Couples in Lakeland shared this holiday card from their Little Brother. The picture came out a little blurry, but the sentiment is crystal clear, especially when you read this line: "As long as you keep on loving me and believing in me I know when my time comes I will be someone great in this world."
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