July 20, 2015 – For Immediate Release
Lanark County – Volunteering is a great way to get connected with your community and a local agency is hoping you will choose to volunteer with them.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lanark County is now looking for volunteers for the 2015/2016 school year for the programs they run in local schools. The time commitment can be as little as one hour a week and scheduling is flexible. Training is provided, but their well-known mentoring programs are really all about the simple power of friendship.
Volunteers are most urgently needed in the agency’s After School Programs that run once a week for two hours, typically from 3:00pm to 5:00pm in Perth, Smiths Falls and Carleton Place schools. Each program involves some fun physical activity, a healthy and delicious snack, and a chance for children to build a friendship with a caring adult. The program offers a fun way to give back to your community, to get volunteer hours, and to engage in something that will be fulfilling and rewarding.
The agency also offers Go Girls! and Game On! Programs, which are both two hours a week for a seven week period. The timing of the program is based on the volunteer’s availability. The program is held during school hours and it is a mentoring program for girls and boys to help them learn new and fun ways to get physically active and learn the nutritional value of balanced eating while giving them tools to help support them through adolescents. Big Brothers Big Sisters is in need of women from age 17-25 for the Go Girls! Program and men from ages 17-30 for the Game On! Program.
If you are looking to volunteer but find you do not have a lot of free time in your schedule, the agency also offers an In School Mentoring program where volunteers are matched with a mentee for one hour a week during school hours enjoying what they both love to do (playing games, cooking, crafts, music, reading, etc…). This is a great way to invest in a young person and see how much fun volunteering can be. All ages are welcome for this. Retirees have found this to be a great program to be involved with.
For those who would like to invest a greater amount of time, there are many boys and girls who are waiting for a traditional Big Brother, Big Sister, or Big Couple to spend 3-4 hours a week going out and enjoying what the mentor and mentee both enjoy doing.
This year Big Brothers Big Sisters was able to serve over 515 children across Lanark County. The agency is a volunteer based organization, which means they need volunteers in order to run their programs. Without volunteers these children would have not been able to take part in their positive and supportive mentoring programs. More than ever, children need a caring adult in their lives to support them through the ups and downs of childhood. With the growing demand for Big Brothers Big Sisters programs, the need for more volunteers is higher than ever.
Each volunteer is carefully screened to ensure the safety of the children served by the agency.
For more information about volunteering with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lanark County visit www.bigbrothersbigsisterslanark.ca or call 613-283-0570.
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For more information:
Beth Sinclair
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lanark County
Beth.sinclair@bigbrothersbigsisters.ca
www.bigbrothersbigsisterslanark.ca
613-283-0570
