There are 24 children in Sagadahoc County waiting to be placed with an adult mentor in the area’s Big Brothers Big Sisters program. Carol Marquis, the program’s executive director, said that’s a longer-than-usual waiting list.

The local BBBS has been matching children ages 6-16 with adult mentors since 1981 through a school-based program, a community program and a partnership with the Bowdoin College’s McKeen Center called Bowdoin Bears and Cubs. Last year, the organization served 138 children in Sagadahoc County, connecting kids primarily from single-parent and low-income households with 127 adults willing to offer one hour of their time per week. Marquis says she is hoping BBBS can recruit twice that number by the end of this year.

To do so, BBBS of Bath/Brunswick is holding a “60 Bigs in 60 Days” initiative to encourage volunteers to apply by Feb. 29 to be mentors in the program. Marquis, who was a Little herself in Connecticut, joined the board of BBBS in 2018 and came on as executive director in 2022. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, she said, the program saw a decline in volunteerism. In 2019, BBBS of Bath/Brunswick served 195 children. Two years later, in 2021, that number was down to 117.

“I know firsthand how it affected my life and my ability to sort of see a different path for myself than I was seeing around me in my neighborhood and in my family,” Marquis said of her experience in the program.

“A Big does not have to have any special skills,” she said. “They don’t have to be particularly good at anything. They’re not there to be a parent. They’re there truly to just show up, be consistent and let that child know that they have somebody on their side.”

Of the students on the waiting list to be Littles in Brunswick-Bath area, 68% of them are male, while only 25% of the adults volunteering are male. Marquis hopes that 2024 will bring in more mentors and especially male role models.

For Dena Bachman and Heather Arvidson, both Big Sisters for the past several years, the program has been a constant in their lives.

Arvidson, who lives in Brunswick, is program director at Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program. She was first matched with a Little in 2018 and saw her graduate from high school. Arvidson opted to volunteer in the community-based program and spends time with her current Little, who is 12 years old, outside of school hours.

“It’s been easy to find the time,” Arvidson said. “Something that fits well into my schedule is finding pockets of time within my week.”

For Bachman, who has volunteered for the past six years, the reward is a “ripple effect” of positive change — not only in her Little’s life but also in her own.

“It has opened my heart bigger than I possibly could have thought,” she said. “I thought it was just to be a mentor to somebody else, to change somebody else’s life, but it has changed mine.

“Mentorship might not be a need but companionship is.”

Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Bath/Brunswick will be holding virtual information sessions on Wednesday, Jan. 17, and Wednesday, Feb. 7, from noon to 12:30 p.m. and in person at Brickyard Hollow’s Yarmouth, Brunswick and New Gloucester locations on Tuesday, Jan. 23, from 5 to 9 p.m. Those interested in being a Big can also visit bbbsbathbrunswick.org/getstarted or call (207) 729-7736 to learn more.

Copy the Story Link

« Previous

Brunswick Staples workers vote against unionizing

Next »

Crew of Bath-built USS Carney honored for thwarting Houthi attacks