Making a BIG Difference
Community engagement is an important part of Big Brothers Big Sisters’ work. Now, a new group is turning that emphasis on community inward in order to create a greater sense of connectivity between and among BBBS Bigs and matches.
The new group is called BIG – The Big Impact Group. It is made up of Bigs and other volunteers who are connected with BBBS. Launched in May, the group is using their networking skills and resources to help the organization as a whole.
“I’m so proud of being a part of this organization (BBBS), and I wanted more,” said Michaela Lindsay, a former Big Sister and one of the founders of the new group. “As Bigs, we all feel so strongly about our experiences that we wanted to create an additional sense of community between and among other Bigs.”
Michaela became aware of the need for this type of community when her own match came to an end as her Little Sister Aracely graduated from high school. “We were told that our match would be closing and we were kind of caught off guard by that because we hang out together all the time,” Michaela explained. “So, we approached BBBS about wanting to stay involved with the organization because it’s been such a positive experience for us.”
Michaela believed she had a lot of skills and resources to offer to help meet some of the organization’s needs, and she wanted to keep her Little Sister connected with the agency as well. “Aracely particularly wanted to give back to other high-school-aged Littles,” said Michaela.
Michaela met with Joe Strychalski, BBBS Vice President of Programs, and Christina Snell, Match Support Supervisor, to start the conversation. After months of research and collecting ideas, the Big Impact Group was formed. “We identified a few needs that we thought we might be able to help meet if we mobilized some of our most engaged Bigs and supporters,” said Joe. “Those needs were additional funding to help hire more staff to serve more kids; recruiting volunteers – specifically men, men of color, and bilingual Bigs; and better connecting our Bigs.”
Connecting Bigs seemed like a natural place for the group to start. BBBS matches have match support specialists who do exceptional jobs of helping Bigs in their one-to-one relationships with their Littles, but even with this help matches can sometimes feel isolated from other matches. The Big Impact Group is working on strategies to address this.
“I’ve met so many wonderful people in this group,” said Michaela. “They are passionate about mentorship and have dedicated a significant portion of their time to it. I was involved with BBBS for 5 years and never made these kinds of connections before. So, that has already been a huge benefit of this group!”
To help build connections, the Big Impact Group is launching a Facebook group for Bigs and plans to be a point of contact for future match events. “Sometimes you show up for a match outing like a Round Rock Express baseball game and don’t even realize you’re sitting next to another match,” Michaela continued. “We want to be a point of contact to say, ‘Hey, we’ll meet at this location before the game. Come say ‘hi’ and get to know other Bigs and Littles and help us build a greater sense of community.”
To help BBBS recruit new volunteers, the group has set a goal of enlisting 50 male Bigs. They are planning to use their personal networks to get information out to those who might not be familiar with the organization. “We want to let people know what is involved and what it means to be a Big. Especially potential male mentors,” said Michaela. “We’re interested in making legitimate connections for BBBS staff to pursue. I’m involved in the MBA program at UT which is a predominately male group. There could be a lot of student interest in the program there.”
To support fundraising, the Big Impact Group has set a goal of raising $50,000 and is scheduling several fundraising events. “Our first event was the ‘Notworking for Charity’ event that we held in late July,” said Joe. “We raised about $8,000, had approximately 200 participants, and 20 people expressed an interest in becoming Bigs.”
The group also has plans for events that satisfy multiple goals such as the Dynamic Duo Fitness Challenge coming up on November 12. This event will give matches a chance to have fun and get acquainted, while also raising funds for BBBS. The group is working on several other events including SantaCon, which will take place downtown on December 9th.
“Our target member for the group is someone who is already connected with BBBS,” said Michaela. “The Big Impact Group is just getting off the ground so we’re interested in attracting additional members. We want to include people who are already familiar with the organization. For instance, there may be people out there who have participated in Bowl for Kids every year and who haven’t necessarily volunteered as Bigs, but who are fully aware of BBBS’ mission and who have been impacted by the organization.”
Membership requirements for the group include: a one-year commitment to the group and attendance at monthly meetings; supporting BBBS financially – as a Game Changer making monthly donations at any level, or making a meaningful personal contribution to BBBS; being a current or past Big/BBBS participant; being a young professional currently engaged with BBBS, or being someone who is interested in future BBBS Board service.
“If someone is interested in joining the group I visit with them first,” said Joe. “I go over the expectations and requirements of membership because we want to make sure people know that this is a working group first and that there are high expectations. There is a social, networking component to our efforts and it is a fun group, but we expect our members to bring their resources – whether time, talent or treasure – to help us meet our goals.”
“I would love to have more members and to hear more about what Bigs are looking for out of their participation,” Michaela said. “There are professional organizations for everything from sports to fine arts. The Big Impact Group exists to enrich the experience of Bigs and matches, to help the agency with fundraising and recruitment needs, and to build further awareness of BBBS.”
Photo: Big Impact Group members. Back row: Stefan Sinclair, Joe Strychalski, Albert Swantner, Oliver Davis-Urman, Jeremy Giroir. Front row: Liz Garcia, Nicholas Johnson, Michaela Lindsay, Jonathan Lin Davis. Not pictured: Jeremy Cox, Tri Dang, Brett Keenan, and Ali Nichols.
