A local organization that pairs young people with adult mentors to create new experiences for the youth is in desperate need of male mentors.
Boys & Girls Clubs Big Brothers Big Sisters of Edmonton & Area (BGCBigs) has a goal of recruiting 100 male mentors over 100 days from Feb. 5 to May 15.
“We’re posing this challenge to men in our community specifically because so many men have the capacity to be awesome mentors but they don’t even realize it,” said Ian Amundson, club manager at BGCBigs.
The agency has a waitlist of over 700 young people waiting to be matched up with a mentor. Over 400 of those on the list are boys, some of whom will likely wait two years to be paired with a mentor.
BGCBigs said the commitment isn’t as big as some people might think — just once per week or once every two weeks, from one to three hours per meeting.
“I hear guys tell me all the time, ‘I don’t have time’ or ‘I don’t have what it takes’ and I always respond by saying; ‘Did you play video games last week? Did you watch a hockey game last week? Did you play a sport or a board game or check out a cool attraction?’ The answer is always yes — so why not do all of those fun things you’re already doing anyway but with a buddy?” Amundson said.
“Just for an hour per week. That’s all it takes to be a mentor — one hour a week to do something fun you were already going to do, but with a young person who needs you.”
Mentors do not need to have higher education or experience working with children or youth.
“We have staff, we have facilitators whose whole job it is to help give ideas,” said Danielle Newman, volunteer recruitment specialist with BGCBigs. “Often, we pair people up with kids who have similar interests to them. So right away, it’s kind of like, whatever you like doing there’s probably a kid who enjoys similar things.”
The agency’s after-school program is designed to support vulnerable children and youth who are living in poverty. BGCBigs also runs an in-school program, where youth and mentors spend an hour a week together at the child’s school.
“We find that kids who have mentors are more likely to finish high school, they’re less likely to try drugs and alcohol,” Newman said. “So there’s a lot of amazing benefits for the youth. But there’s also great benefits for the mentors. We hear all the time from mentors that they didn’t even realize how much they would get out of this program.”
Robert Markowski is a former in-school mentor and said the opportunity was a great way to relive his youth.
“From reading books like Geronimo Stilton, to spending time making a papier mâché volcano, it was as much fun for me (as it was for my mentee),” Markowski said.
“I felt pressure coming the first day, but when you realize your (mentee) is looking forward to spending time out of the classroom with someone that is just trying to help them with learning challenges, have some fun and develop a relationship, I really had nothing to worry about.”
Mentors are typically 18 or older, but the agency’s gamechangers program — an all-male program — has some mentors as young as 16. Anyone interested in signing up to be a mentor can visit the Boys & Girls Clubs Big Brothers Big Sisters of Edmonton & Area website.
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