Big Brothers Big Sisters of Saint John will hold an inaugural event this fall to celebrate and raise the profile of mentors in the organization, along with the goal of recruiting new ones.
Recruiting mentors is crucial for the organization. About 4000 children sit on a national wait list for Big Brother or Big Sister mentor
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The yearly average in the Saint John area is about 100 with some waiting as long as two years to be partnered up.
“Think about how that could be offset if they had someone in their life to listen to, to provide advice, to be somebody outside the family that shows that they care,” said Laurie Collins, Executive Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Saint John.
Jim Jordan, a former mentor, says he maintains a friendship with the person he mentored 14 years ago.
“It’s rewarding to make a difference, to really make a difference in somebody’s life to help them along,” said Jordan.
“I find that personally rewarding to help others succeed.”
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That’s why the organization is hopeful that the Inspire Mentoring Awards will increase the visibility of mentoring.
“A lot of people don’t even realize that they can mentor or that would be qualified to mentor,” said former mentor Deborah Fisher. “They figure it should be someone else or someone else is more qualified than they are and that’s not true”.
The awards ceremony will be held November 1.