The Saskatoon and area chapter of Big Brothers Big Sisters is pleading to willing men to become mentors.
The organization says girls waiting to be matched with a big sister wait two to three months. For boys, the wait time is two to three years.
“We try to focus our recruitment message on men. We just find women walk in the door more often,” Brady Figley, who is a recruitment coodinator, said.
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The current amount of kids waiting in Saskatoon and area is 259 – 118 girls and 141 boys.
Brendon Lee has been a Big Brother for a total of seven years, mentoring two different children. He said it’s one of the most rewarding experiences of his life.
Statistics show mentoring has a positive impact on youth. Young people who have been mentored are 17 per cent more likely to be employed and 47 per cent more likely to hold senior leadership positions.
Boys grow up with less anxiety, and are also less likely to bully, lie, cheat, and steal.
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In 2013, the Boston Consulting Group found that for every dollar donated to the Big Brother Big Sisters, eighteen dollars is given back to society.
“One hour a week: that’s all it takes to change a child’s life forever,” Figley said.
Bri Dodd is the legal guardian of her six-year-old brother Eliot. They’ve been waiting a year to have a mentor paired with Eliot.
“Somebody that’s a single mother, they can obviously do just as good of a job, but there’s a different dynamic that having a dad or male figure in your life can add,” she said.
“There’s kids out there that don’t get those things and that desperately need that connection with somebody.”
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