Speaker 1: Good morning, good morning, good morning. Welcome, welcome, welcome me.
Speaker 1: It's time to bring in big brothers, big sisters and
Speaker 1: Charlene do how do you do? Well?
Speaker 2: It's a lovely fall morning it is.
Speaker 1: And you brought along Rusty got here for good luck.
Speaker 3: Yeah, just ride your coattails.
Speaker 1: Well you no stranger, you've been here quite a few times.
Speaker 1: First of all, the big event, how.
Speaker 2: Do we do big event? Our dinner and auction was wonderful.
Speaker 1: It was.
Speaker 4: It really was everything from decorations to the Danny Hood
Speaker 4: who shared his match story to Anjeanette and the evolution
Speaker 4: for the entertainment, and of course Roger did his usual
Speaker 4: great auctioneer work, the crowd and our MC John J.
Speaker 4: Kine and our and our event Barbara and John B.
Speaker 2: King. So it was it really was the perfect.
Speaker 4: Finale to my last gala. As you know, I am
Speaker 4: retiring in November.
Speaker 1: It's only twenty six, I tell her, That's what I
Speaker 1: tell her.
Speaker 4: So everything just ran really smoothly and we raised over seventy.
Speaker 2: Thousand dollars, which is over goals, so that's awesome. So
Speaker 2: it really.
Speaker 4: Was a good evening and we are I want to
Speaker 4: thank our sponsor Sutterfield was the presenting sponsor, and then
Speaker 4: Conical Philips Philliped sixty six and Rusty Tear sponsors.
Speaker 1: We are going to be talking a little bit today
Speaker 1: about the recruitment of mentors, and you, Rusty, you might
Speaker 1: have a little insight track on this. Yeah.
Speaker 5: Yeah, so'm I say.
Speaker 3: I'm honored to get the privilege to serve on the
Speaker 3: board at Big Brother, Big Sister here in Barsville. Have
Speaker 3: been doing it for quite a few years now. That
Speaker 3: really started though, when I became a mentor. I'll never
Speaker 3: forget that first month I joined as a big and
Speaker 3: then a month later Charlene said, hey, you're going to
Speaker 3: join the board too, so it was kind of a
Speaker 3: I didn't realize it was a package deal.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 3: We're always looking for mentors, and you know, I really
Speaker 3: stress the importance of male mentors. We really need men
Speaker 3: to step up in the community. We have a lot
Speaker 3: a lot of young boys out there waiting. And Dayton
Speaker 3: and I have been together for three years. And the
Speaker 3: irony is I was taller when we first met. Now
Speaker 3: he is taller than me. So the joke is I'm
Speaker 3: the little brother. But I get just as much out
Speaker 3: of it as he probably does, and that's something I
Speaker 3: didn't realize at the beginning, and just the amount of
Speaker 3: you know, everything you pour in is what you're going
Speaker 3: to get out right, And that's come back to me tenfold.
Speaker 3: And so you can just spend a couple hours every
Speaker 3: other week. I think we all have the time to
Speaker 3: do that. We're all busy though there's sports, there's activities,
Speaker 3: But I think we can take a couple hours every
Speaker 3: other week spend it given back to the community because
Speaker 3: we have a fair amount of young kids in waiting
Speaker 3: that really need mentors.
Speaker 1: How many kids do we have in waiting, Charlie, We.
Speaker 4: Have thirty two children on the waiting list. Twelve of
Speaker 4: them are girls and twenty of them are boys. More
Speaker 4: boys are referred more women volunteers, so there's always that
Speaker 4: disparity going going on. But yes, and our greatest need
Speaker 4: ist men or couples to be matched with the boys.
Speaker 2: Exactly.
Speaker 1: Very cool that you have married couples who might be
Speaker 1: empty nesters now and it benefits to everybody.
Speaker 2: It does.
Speaker 4: A big couple, their screens separately come in and they're
Speaker 4: matched with a boy. Advantage to the couple as they
Speaker 4: can do stuff together to get back to the community
Speaker 4: and they advantage to the child is that they get
Speaker 4: both a male role model and a female role model,
Speaker 4: and a healthy marriage role model as well. So it
Speaker 4: is an advantage and it's particularly useful for either young
Speaker 4: couples with no children or the empty nesters retirees.
Speaker 1: This gives a child a chance to see maybe something
Speaker 1: and probably something they don't see in their everyday life. Correct.
Speaker 3: Great, Yeah, and you know I kind of add to that.
Speaker 3: Sometimes I think mentors may think, hey, I need to
Speaker 3: be a parent figure and really know you're that's the
Speaker 3: fun part of this.
Speaker 5: I get to be. I joke.
Speaker 3: I have four siblings and I'm the oldest, and if
Speaker 3: you're ask any of them, they would probably say I
Speaker 3: was probably hard on them, And so I joke with them, Hey,
Speaker 3: to to Dayton, I'm the brother.
Speaker 5: I always wanted to.
Speaker 1: Be that kind of that older brother feeling. Yeah. But yeah,
Speaker 1: you get a chance to do something price start a
Speaker 1: new both of you. Yeah, and you bring out the
Speaker 1: best possible each other.
Speaker 5: That's right, And I mean it's it's a humbling experience.
Speaker 5: I've learned. I can't fly kites throughout.
Speaker 3: This this, but a bitch, you look fun trying, yes,
Speaker 3: and I hand it to him and he all of
Speaker 3: a sudden can fly it. I don't understand, but yeah,
Speaker 3: we've done all and there's so many things to do
Speaker 3: in our community that we probably don't think about. Whether
Speaker 3: that's just bowling, going to Remy's going to to the park,
Speaker 3: like I said, flying kites, we've done, fishing, you name it.
Speaker 3: We've done all the things here and most of it
Speaker 3: it's pretty costa fault.
Speaker 1: Well, yeah, right there, all those things you mentioned you
Speaker 1: weren't like taking out a home loan to go to
Speaker 1: an amusement park or something like that. I know how
Speaker 1: that goes. I got seven kids, I've done that. But yeah,
Speaker 1: these are just everyday things. And it's the bonding. It's
Speaker 1: the time.
Speaker 3: It is.
Speaker 1: It's basically the time and conversation.
Speaker 5: It really is.
Speaker 3: And we've had all kinds of really deep conversations I
Speaker 3: probably wasn't planned for. And I've reached out to Daniel
Speaker 3: at Big Brother Bick sister kind of helps coordinate everything
Speaker 3: there and setting up the matches, just to get feedback
Speaker 3: in a different perspective. But it's been a great experience
Speaker 3: and I look forward to continue to get until he graduates,
Speaker 3: high school and then beyond.
Speaker 1: Wow, this is great. I understand we have some site
Speaker 1: based programs going on in some of our elementary school right.
Speaker 4: Our site based are school base are used interchangeably. The
Speaker 4: volunteers can be young as young as fifteen and a
Speaker 4: half and they the volunteers stay at the child's school
Speaker 4: and they meet during the after school program hours from
Speaker 4: three thirty to four thirty.
Speaker 2: So those it's an ideal.
Speaker 4: Opportunity for high school students, college students, retirees because we
Speaker 4: go to the school the same day every week and
Speaker 4: meet during that hour. We provide activity boxes with all
Speaker 4: kinds of things to do in them, but you have
Speaker 4: to stay on the school campus. And our target schools
Speaker 4: for this here are Jane Phillips Elementary, Wilson Elementary, and
Speaker 4: then Dewey Elementary.
Speaker 1: Ah, there you go.
Speaker 3: Cool.
Speaker 4: So if there are you know your listeners are thinking, well,
Speaker 4: I have a child in one of those three schools
Speaker 4: that I would like to have a big brother or
Speaker 4: big sister, either in our community based program or a
Speaker 4: site based program, and just talk to the school counselor
Speaker 4: or they can call our office and if there's anyone
Speaker 4: listening that has a high school student sixteen and up
Speaker 4: that is interested in having a volunteer opportunity, then we
Speaker 4: would welcome that. We definitely need volunteers at especially at
Speaker 4: Jane Phillips and we have six boys they're all waiting
Speaker 4: in a site based program, so they can just give
Speaker 4: our office.
Speaker 1: Call very good, very good, Big Brothers, Big Sisters. You
Speaker 1: you've still kind of got the glow of the big award,
Speaker 1: haven't you.
Speaker 2: Yes, well, everybody, yes, that was a big deal.
Speaker 1: It was a huge deal.
Speaker 2: No play onwards intended.
Speaker 4: The Big Brothers Sisters of Oklahoma is named the twenty
Speaker 4: twenty three Large Agency Alliance Agency.
Speaker 5: Of the Year.
Speaker 2: Yes, and that is.
Speaker 4: It is a recognition based on specific criteria financial stability, growth,
Speaker 4: quality of matches.
Speaker 2: So it's.
Speaker 4: It's well earned and a big national recognition of the
Speaker 4: quality of the program of Big of the Oklahoma program.
Speaker 1: That's great. This is not your participation rippon, this is
Speaker 1: this is this is the one that goes on the mantel. Yes,
Speaker 1: we'll congratulations again. She's so humble.
Speaker 3: She's like, oh yeah, well when we leave here, she'll
Speaker 3: be am a little more private.
Speaker 1: Right now, she just going that way.
Speaker 2: You know, well, I've been I've been the director here.
Speaker 4: Big Brothers for Sisters has been serving Washington County for
Speaker 4: forty years and I've been the director for thirty five
Speaker 4: of those years. And so, you know, quality of program
Speaker 4: and has always been my priority in terms of what
Speaker 4: we're doing, try to do it at the highest level
Speaker 4: standard of excellence as possible, and so it's just nice
Speaker 4: to see that that is recognized at the national level
Speaker 4: as well.
Speaker 1: Oh there you go about darn time too. I mean,
Speaker 1: I would just be saying now, getting back to recruitment
Speaker 1: of mentors, how difficult is this?
Speaker 4: Ar Well, recruiting is difficult, and it's changed over the years,
Speaker 4: and you know, people's perspective on mentoring has changed. Our
Speaker 4: demographics in our community has changed significantly. You know, people
Speaker 4: have less time, it appears because of the workloads and things,
Speaker 4: but the reality is we all have the same twenty
Speaker 4: four hours and it's really about what you choose to
Speaker 4: spend your time on. And like Rusty said, you know,
Speaker 4: we all have a couple hours a week that we
Speaker 4: could involve a child in something that we're already doing
Speaker 4: if we just think about it, you know, one less
Speaker 4: TV show.
Speaker 3: Or two maybe I told myself, could I give up
Speaker 3: a round a golf every couple of weeks. I'm like, yeah,
Speaker 3: that's pretty easy. Yeah, it's not like my golf games
Speaker 3: good anyways. So my time can be keeper appreciate, it
Speaker 3: could be spent in other other areas more productive.
Speaker 5: But it really does.
Speaker 3: It takes a little to be a big, it does.
Speaker 3: It does take a little to be a big.
Speaker 1: Do you think people who are thinking about this kind
Speaker 1: of make more of it?
Speaker 5: Absolutely? Yeah? And and right it is.
Speaker 3: It's always a little awkward, you know, that first couple
Speaker 3: of meetings because you're you're still connecting, You're trying to
Speaker 3: figure out you know what that's exactly right, And it's
Speaker 3: a different adult adult your adult to kid, right, and so.
Speaker 5: But it's it's it's funny. It just starts clicking.
Speaker 3: And I I had asked myself when I'm making a difference,
Speaker 3: and am I you know, am I making a positive
Speaker 3: difference in this young man's life? And I'll never forget.
Speaker 3: I went to I dropped him off one day, maybe
Speaker 3: a month or two into this, and his mom said, Hey,
Speaker 3: I just want you to know. I can always tell
Speaker 3: after he's hung out with you because he sings in
Speaker 3: the shower. He's so upbeat he whistles around the house.
Speaker 3: And so she just thanked me, which I in turn
Speaker 3: just thank her because again it's it's helped me just
Speaker 3: as much as much him well.
Speaker 1: And we.
Speaker 4: Take the matches are made on the basis of personality,
Speaker 4: common interests, what the child's needs are, and what the
Speaker 4: volunteer's life experience are. So if you think about it,
Speaker 4: that's how you have friends. You have you get along,
Speaker 4: you have something in common, and one of you is
Speaker 4: not too needy for the others. So that's so we
Speaker 4: take a lot of effort in the enrollment process and
Speaker 4: doing the interviews, understanding what the child and family's needs are,
Speaker 4: Understanding the volunteer, what are they bringing to.
Speaker 2: The table, what's their picture of.
Speaker 4: Being a mentor, and then matching that volunteer with the
Speaker 4: right child off.
Speaker 1: The waiting list very good.
Speaker 4: So that helps to get off to a strong start.
Speaker 4: And Daniel is our program specialist, and we do provide
Speaker 4: the professional support, and that's what separates us from a
Speaker 4: lot of other programs where it's like you tossed together
Speaker 4: and left on your own devices. Our program specialist talks
Speaker 4: to the volunteer the parent and the child once a
Speaker 4: month for the first year.
Speaker 1: And Big Brothers Big Sisters also partners with other agencies
Speaker 1: here in town for mentorship. Correct.
Speaker 4: Yes, we do all of the mentoring component of Young Scholars.
Speaker 4: They recruit the volunteers, but once the volunteer is recruited,
Speaker 4: we provide the mentoring component of that program.
Speaker 1: Very good, folks, well worth your time, well worth your
Speaker 1: investment of your time, and well worth your investment period.
Speaker 1: If people want to know more about Big Brothers Big Sisters,
Speaker 1: how do we do that here locally?
Speaker 4: The website is big Oklahoma dot org, or they can
Speaker 4: call our office nine one eight two one three four
Speaker 4: five two four is my is my number?
Speaker 1: Okay, And once again, congratulations on the big event, the
Speaker 1: big success there, and on the big award.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: That's mighty big stuff.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and a big retirement.
Speaker 1: I'm going to ask you I had to answer this,
Speaker 1: what kind of fun you plan it? Well?
Speaker 4: Right now I'm just running to get all my stuff
Speaker 4: tidied up so and hand it off perfectly to the
Speaker 4: next person.
Speaker 2: I can't focus too much on that.
Speaker 4: It's happening after November fifteenth, but my first six months
Speaker 4: is going to be a well deserved rest and just
Speaker 4: thinking about how I want to how I want to
Speaker 4: plan and do the next chapter of my life.
Speaker 5: Have you thought about being a big mentor?
Speaker 1: I have, I bet she has. I bet she can too.
Speaker 4: Well. I've been a big sister three times in my life, okay,
Speaker 4: and probably will again.
Speaker 2: But you know, we'll we'll just see how that works,
Speaker 2: all right.
Speaker 1: I want to thank you both for being in here
Speaker 1: with us today and is sharing with us about big
Speaker 1: brothers and big sisters.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Thank you so much.
Speaker 1: Folks you have been watching and listening to our community
Speaker 1: connection