“I don’t think people who have a chance to be a Big Brother or Big Sister realize what it does for us,” said Ron Katz, pictured here, who has been a Big Brother twice. “It’s just a wonderful experience. I’ve learned so much from my Little Brother, who graduated from high school two and a half years ago. We’re still connected. I was given this wonderful opportunity, and I want to make sure other adults and kids have that same opportunity. The most significant thing is for a child to have somebody that they can depend on in their life. Sometimes they don’t get that from a parent. Having a chance to be together with someone else is just so important.”
“I was here last year watching friends bowl, and I just decided that I wanted to join this year,” said Gilda Gatti, a member of the team Gutter Gurlz. “And (BBBS) is such a good organization to support. Kids need a lot of mentoring and a lot of help in a lot of ways these days.”
“I think this cause is really amazing,” said Keanna Caldwell, a Big Sister and an Americorps volunteer at Ira B. Jones Elementary School. “I see so many of the kids at our school that benefit from it. I get to be a part of that impact.”
“I’ve supported this event (Bowl for Kids’ Sake) through GE (Aviation) the last four, five years,” said Dwayne Hensley. “It’s fun to get together with people that I don’t normally associate with at work. It’s cool to hang out with them. And it’s for a good cause. Big Brothers Big Sisters is fantastic. They do great stuff.”
“It’s good to mentor the young kids,” said Jennifer Finley. “Sometimes they need somebody to look up to. It’s really important to mentor our young people.”
“It’s an excellent program to help nurture children through life and give them good values as they’re in the process of becoming an adult,” said Karen Kiehna. “So many parents are having to work longer hours. Children just need to have that safe place to learn how to become adults and learn how to socialize and interact with other children.”
“It’s a very important cause,” said Maureen Jablinske, who works at Stephens Lee Recreation Center, where she gets to see BBBS’s After School Program in action. “It really makes a difference. I look forward to being a Big Sister.”