BBBS Announces Mentoring Month, Celebrates 50 years in Wyoming

January is celebration month forBig Brothers Big Sisters as they are celebrating 50 years in Wyoming.

Big Brothers Big Sisters first came to Wyoming by way of Laramie in 1971. It started out as a small team of people and now has nine branches throughout the state. Sheridan County, Laramie Natrona, Park, Albany, Fremont, Carbon, Sweetwater, and Washakie all have BBBS chapters serving thousands of children and their families in Wyoming.

CEO, Steve Hamaker says “Adults helping local youth realize their potential started as a simple idea and continues to be one of the most powerful ways community members can contribute to strengthening communities and impacting future generations. Mentoring has become even more relevant as opportunities for social interactions and supportive relationship are increasingly limited.” In addition to the celebration, BBBS will focus on volunteer recruitment through the year.

“We’re always recruiting volunteers,” he said. “There are always more kids than volunteers. We also have a real challenge with gender. Women are more likely to volunteer, but boys are more likely to enroll.

“We tell our volunteers don’t think of it as setting aside this extra time to spend time with the kid,” he continued. “You’re just inviting someone else to come do something you’re already doing with them.”

January is also National Mentoring Month. What if this New Year, when people make resolutions to eat healthier, exercise more, or learn a new skill, you could resolve to do something more important, more impactful?

In 2022, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Wyoming is asking people in Sheridan to resolve to become a Big Brother or Big Sister.

“Bettering yourself in the new year is a great goal,” said Big Brothers Big Sisters of Wyoming CEO Steve Hamaker, “but we know people are also thinking about how to better their community and how to make sure that when they reflect on the year, they know they made a difference.”

Many youth in the Sheridan County area are wanting to be matched with a Big Brother or Big Sister, and the only way to ensure they have someone to inspire them to reach their potential is for more adults to step up and volunteer to become Bigs. Being a Big means committing to spending a few hours a month with a young person doing things that you love to do, like playing basketball, visiting the library, or learning how to cook.

This January, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Wyoming is celebrating those who are already volunteering as mentors, “Bigs”, and recruiting new volunteers.

Big Brothers Big Sisters knows that every child has the potential to do incredible things. Their mission is to help empower them to reach higher by creating positive mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth.

For more than 100 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters has been making professionally supported matches between adult volunteers and youth between the ages of 5 and 16. Youth with mentors do better in school, get along better with peers and families, develop healthier habits, avoid risky behavior, and create bigger goals for themselves and their lives. Volunteers and youth come from all walks of life, and being a volunteer is one of the most fulfilling things you will ever do.

You have the power to make the difference in the life of a young person!

For more information, visit www.wyobbbs.org.