J’aime prendre le temps de témoigner de la différence qu’un(e) Grand(e) peut faire dans la vie d’un jeune même s’ils ne réalisent que des activités simples ensemble.  Il est important que quelqu’un prenne le temps de faire cette constatation puisqu’il peut être difficile parfois pour les Grand(es) de le faire par eux-mêmes.   

J’ai récemment eu l’occasion de m’entretenir avec une mère (Sylvie*) qui m'a témoigné des changements qu’elle avait remarqués chez son fils (Joey*) après seulement quatre mois de parrainage par son Grand Frère…

 

 

This past year BBBSO celebrated its fourth year of the Go Girls! program. The 2009 - 2010 school year was our most successful year to date, with programs running in 17 schools throughout the Ottawa area. We had over 40 dedicated volunteers that delivered the Go Girls! program to over 200 children.

 

All week the weather forecast called for rain on Sunday, but when Sunday arrived, there was hardly a cloud in the sky for our friendly ball hockey game!

 

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.

 

"What do other matches do for fun?"  This is one of the questions I get asked the most by volunteers struggling to find new activity ideas for themselves and their Littles.  In truth, I don't envy these volunteers.  This has to be one of the hardest parts about being a Big.  I'm sure many of us out there can relate to the difficulty of finding new and exciting activities for teens that don't break any rules.  So how do you find these activity ideas?  Well, I am happy to report that I discovered the secret to solving this puzzle one day while talking to a match that has been doing it for eight years.  As it turns out, the answer is right under our noses...

(Ecrit par notre étudiante en stage, Traci Spour)

Certains individus considèrent le mercredi comme une journée ennuyant puisque ce n'est ni le début, ni le fin de la semaine. Ce n'est pas le cas pour moi, une étudiante en stage au Grands Frères Grandes Sœurs d'Ottawa. C'est une journée remplit de sourire, de souvenir et d'activités amusants ! Voici mon histoire comme Grande Sœur pour le programme de mentorat scolaire.

 

In light of our not-so distant office relocation, I thought that a blog on change would be very fitting.  So, here goes...

I'm sure we can all relate to the fact that as time goes on, things around us change.  Even though none of us wants to admit it, we ourselves change too.  Well I've come to realize that the same is true for matches. 

While change can sometimes be difficult, it can also be wonderful.  I was recently privileged enough to hear this touching story from one of my longer standing matches about the ways in which their match has changed over the years...

Last year brought forth many challenges for our Enrollment department.  We started off the year with 223 Bigs who were in process, and none ready to be matched.  Thanks to a phenomenal team effort, we were able to give a huge push over the spring and summer, at one point, staff members from nearly every program were conducting Big Brother and Big Sister interviews!  The result of this push, was the acceptance of almost 100 Bigs into our program - with a total of almost 150 Littles on our wait list, you can imagine how excited we were about this! 

Quand les jumelages se terminent avec l'agence, nous essayons toujours d'avoir une rencontre de fermeture avec tous les individus qui font parti du jumelage.  Il y a beaucoup de réactions différentes de la part des participants, mais j'aperçois certaines réactions  qui sont plus remarquables que d'autres. Je me souviens d'une rencontre en particulier, que je n'oublierai jamais...