Ten matches with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program teamed up to play miniature golf at Hawk Hollow during a Golf for Kids’ Sake fundraiser Wednesday afternoon.
Big Brothers Big Sisters Match Support Specialist Jamie Griggs said Big Brothers Big Sisters is made up of a school-based program where mentors meet with a child once a week during their lunch period, and a community-based program where a mentor can pick up a child from their home and take them out in the community.
Matches involved in the community-based program have more flexibility and are free to spend time together by themselves within the community in addition to the program’s organized events.
During the matching process, volunteers are interviewed and asked what type of child they would be most comfortable with.
“We call ourselves professional match-makers and we try to put those matches together so make sure that they’re long-lasting,” Griggs said.
Special Initiatives Coordinator Alicia Barajas said there are currently more than 80 MSU students who mentor children between ages 5 and 17.
Barajas added that Big Brothers Big Sisters is specifically looking for men to become mentors this fall.
“We always have more boys waiting to be matched than men coming into the program,” she said.
Big brother William Martinez, who is a MSU doctoral student studying physics , said he joined the program because he simply wants to be there for someone.
“I want to be a positive role model,” Martinez said. “There’s a lot of people who need a little bit more than they have and so if I can just be a little bit of something there, then that’s really all I’m looking for.”
Little brother Deveontye Brown, who is a sophomore at Everett High School , said he enjoys hanging out with Martinez because they both have an interest in sports.
In the past, Martinez said he and Brown have played basketball together, gone out to eat, gone to the mall and have attended MSU football games and Lansing Lugnuts baseball games.
The Big Brothers Big Sisters program has positively influenced Brown. He said spending time with a college student makes the idea of college more appealing and as a result, he wants to become a Spartan someday.
Griggs said it is beneficial for youth to be involved in Big Brothers Big Sisters because every child deserves to have someone there to encourage them.
“I think that the more people you have invested in you, the further you’ll go in life,” Griggs said.
Barajas said the younger siblings aren’t the only ones who benefit from the program, in that the mentors also gain from the program. Barajas added that several students have joined simply for the company of one another.
“Many of the mentors enrolling in the program tell us that they miss spending time with their younger siblings back home, or that they never had a younger sibling growing up but always wished they had,” Barajas said.
All the proceeds from the Hawk Hollow fundraiser will go toward Big Brothers Big Sisters and Griggs said a portion of the funds will go to their annual picnic that will take place next week.
