posts taggedBig Impacts

Big Sister Katy says she knows she benefited from mentors in her own life, people who had supported and pushed her to reach her potential. “My father, a high school principal, often mentioned to me if more children had a mentor – a positive, trusted person – in their lives, opportunities would look a lot different for them,” Katy says. Now, she’s playing that role for Little Sister Trina, a child who bounced from her birth mother to foster care in her early life, before being adopted at age 3.

As a football coach, Big Brother Tohib saw that boys truly needed positive adult role models. Growing up, he had caring parents who pushed him to reach his potential. “They never settled for ‘good,’” he says. “I always had to work harder.” With his parents’ encouragement, Tohib went to school for finance and earned his Master’s degree. He wanted to give back and help kids who might not have such positive adults in their lives, so he became a Big Brother. He was matched with Little Brother Makhari.

Taniah’s mom enrolled her as a Little partly because she was lacking self-confidence. In the more than three years they’ve been matched, Big Sister Angie has helped her open up.

When “Uncle McKee” visits, Big Brother Al’s kids run to greet him. He gives them his undivided attention. He plays with them and makes them laugh. Before he was “Uncle McKee” to Al’s little ones, he was Little Brother McKee, matched with Big Brother Al.

Big Sister Amanda and Little Sister Kelly have been matched for over nine years, and Amanda is already looking forward to the day when Kelly is matched with her own Little Sister. She knows Kelly will make a great Big, because she’s already a good role model for her siblings, a hardworking student, and a girl who has been through a lot but stayed strong and positive.

For almost two years, Ryan has been the consistent and positive male presence that Robert…

When Little Sister Jazzy and her grandmother arrived in Hawaii, they had nowhere to live…