Big Brothers and Big Sisters of the Tri-State has helped young people find adult mentors and role models since 1973.

Friday, September 08, 2000

Big Brothers and Big Sisters of the Tri-State has helped young people find adult mentors and role models since 1973.

Thursday afternoon, the organization took to the park to offer lunch and a little information to area residents who might want to be a part of making a difference in a child’s life, public relations coordinator Teresa Eye said.

"We have radio involved," Ms. Eye said. "Even if a large number of people don’t stop by today, it gains attention and interest."

The Lunchbreak event was scheduled over three days: Sept. 6 in Huntington, W.Va., at the Civic Arena, Sept. 7 in Ironton at Ohio University Southern Campus and today at Ashland’s Judd Plaza.

Each day, radio personalities from WKEE and WTCR broadcasted live from the Lunchbreak.

In addition to the celebrity guests, Big Brothers and Big Sisters of the Tri-State staff and volunteers passed out literature on the organization along with food catered by a local restaurant.

Ms. Eye said that at the Huntington Lunchbreak, 10 new volunteers signed up to become mentors.

"We feel that’s good," Ms. Eye said. "We’ll also see residual effects from these Lunchbreaks. Two or three months from now people will sign up for the program because they saw this."

Ms. Eye said that in addition to a drive for volunteers, the events allow the organization to clear up some misconceptions about its goals.

Two of the most common worries people have about volunteering to mentor in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program is that they have to give a lot of time and deal with problem children.

"That’s just not the case," Ms. Eye said. "We usually only ask that a big (adult volunteer) spend two to three hours every two weeks with a little (child)."

She also said that the children do not have behavior problems.

"These are average kids," she said. "The one thing they have in common is that they’re all in single-parent environments. They all need role models because their parents have problems juggling their time."

Ms. Eye said that the organization is focused on preventing problems in children by giving them positive role models who will help them build self-esteem.

"A lot of people think that they have to be counselors (to the children), when in reality they don’t. We have counselors to match up bigs and littles. Most issues that a big deals with aren’t major, but we have case managers to help deal with a major one."