Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Oregon, a program of J Bar J Youth Services, is changing young lives through one-on-one mentoring relationships. The organization carefully matches volunteer mentors, known as ‘Bigs,’ with children, or ‘Littles,’ based on shared interests and personalities.
Local Impact
For Jaxon, who has been matched with his Big, Steve, for about a year, those weekly outings have become something he looks forward to. ‘We’ve gone to parks, we’ve explored, we’ve gone to Badlands,’ Jaxon said when asked about some of their adventures together. He describes the experience simply: ‘It’s fun. It’s really cool.’
Jaxon’s mother, Misti, says the relationship has had a profound impact on her son’s life. ‘It’s been really nice,’ she said. ‘The consistency—Steve shows up every week for him. And Jaxon really needs that in his life. He doesn’t get the stability outside of this from a male figure, so it’s been very beneficial.’
The need for volunteers continues to grow, and Misti hopes more adults will consider becoming mentors. ‘If you can be a Big, do it,’ she said. ‘The way I see it is, Steve dedicates two hours a week. Two hours is not a very big commitment.’
Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.
