The agency's strong staff team is what greatly attributes to the success of our mentoring programs. It's hard to believe that two years has already passed since Robert Eves, Executive Director, and Cindy Smith, Senior Director of Resource Development, were hired as part of the BBBSO management team.

Many special friendships are formed through our mentoring programs.  Our Bigs and Littles in our programs all share a common bond.  A friendship that lasts well beyond our required one year. They share a friendship that stands the test of time, with laughter, compassion, fun, and sometimes sadness.

Tracy Moore has been part of our team since May 2008. It takes a patient, organized and dedicated person to run our Meet You In School (MYIS) program because of the stringent timelines and various elements. Over the last two years, Tracy has proven herself to be the right person for the job.

Big Brothers Big Sisters Ottawa (BBBSO) relies on the support of many stakeholders to ensure that children in Ottawa have the opportunity to create special friendships. We are always grateful to the many volunteers who devote their time, energy, compassion and enthusiasm.

In 2008, Big Brothers Big Sisters Ottawa (BBBSO) created its first Ambassador group. This group made up of Bigs, Littles, parents and other supporters is out in the community sharing stories and increasing awareness all year round. We have had Ambassadors speak at Parliament, during the United Way/City of Ottawa golf tournament, at various companies, during our Board Meetings and more.

We are excited to announce that 1103 children were mentored in 2009 across all our programs. This would not be possible without such a motivated and enthusiastic team of employees.

We are thrilled to be celebrating Eric Lapierre's third anniversary as a Mentoring Coordinator, Mentoring InSchool with Big Brothers Big Sisters Ottawa (BBBSO)!

We are very fortunate to work with incredible placement students year after year. This year we had an overwhelming request from College and University students that we could not take them all.  Corinne Miller is a 3rd year student in the Social Work program at Carleton University. Read on as she describes her experience.

Being a Big Brother is easy! It's about doing things that you would normally do with your friends. Richard Cotnam has been a Big for almost two years. Read on to see how his experience as a Big Brother is just as rewarding for him as it is for his Little.

September is Big Brother Big Sister month and we are getting ready for some excitement! What makes this month so special is our Bigs and Littles connecting and creating friendships. A while back, we asked our Bigs and Littles to share their stories with us. We received some wonderful match accounts. Read on to see what Karen has to say about her Little, Ashley, who she met two and a half years ago.

With 21 matches graduating we consider this to be one of the BIGgest rewards.
Congratulations to all our Bigs and Littles who graduated this year!