DARKE COUNTY – Big Brothers Big Sisters of Shelby & Darke County received a $5,000 grant from the Vectren Foundation to address the mentoring needs of youth through its after-school Big Buddies program.
“This grant will enable Big Brothers Big Sisters to continue offering our much-needed Big Buddies mentoring program to children facing adversity in our community,” Executive Director Jennifer Bruns said.
Big Buddies is a nine-month commitment in which high school freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors from area schools are matched with elementary students to offer mentoring services. These matches meet with each other two times per month during the academic school year and focus on educational and social enhancing activities, personal safety, healthy eating and physical fitness.
For the 2018-19, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Shelby & Darke County’s curriculum is titled “Mindfulness: Healthy Minds, Healthy Bodies” and focuses on brain development, social and emotional growth, nutrition and exercise.
“Vectren is proud to support Big Brothers Big Sisters of Shelby & Darke County in addressing the needs of after-school mentoring programs in our communities,” Vectren Community Affairs Manager Rachel Goodspeed said. “At-risk students benefit in a wide variety of ways from healthy, meaningful relationships, not only in improving their academic performance but also developing their confidence and behavior both in and out of school.”
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Shelby & Darke County was founded in 1977 to provide children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported one-to-one relationships that change their lives for the better forever.
For more information regarding services provided, volunteer openings or sponsorship opportunities, call 937-492-7611, 937-547-9622 or visit www.bigbrobigsis-shelbydarke.org.
The Vectren Foundation strives to become a community catalyst in the communities where its members live and work, leveraging everyday opportunities to achieve extraordinary outcomes. The Vectren Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization funded by non-utility related transactions and is not an element of customers’ energy bills. Go to www.vectrenfoundation.org to learn more.
