'Big' program launching in Lakes Region

LACONIA — The Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring program is building momentum, and now is a great time to sign up as a volunteer mentor, or to inquire about enrolling a child.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of New Hampshire has hired Max Marrone to be the program co-ordinator for the Lakes Region office. He started at the beginning of October, after a career in behavioral health and child protective services. He will be working on the second floor of a building owned by the Boys and Girls Club on North Main Street, just north of the clubhouse.

A group of people interested in the program met last week to discuss the progress that had been made in bringing Big Brothers Big Sisters to Laconia. Several adults have signed up to be mentors, and a growing number of parents have expressed interest in having their child paired with a mentor.

Big Brothers Big Sisters is open to children age six through 17. Mentors – referred to as “bigs” in the program – undergo a background check and commit to spending a minimum of four hours each month with their “little.” The Lakes Region program will offer both site-based mentoring, which will take place at a school or at the Boys and Girls Club, and community-based mentoring, wherein mentors take children out for events and experiences.

Marrone will oversee an interviewing process for both prospective mentors and mentees. The philosophy of BBBS is to find not just a match for each child, but a great match – one which will lead to a years-long mentoring relationship.

For those children who find such a match, the benefits are profound. Big Brothers Big Sisters reports that children who have had a mentor are likely to feel better about themselves, make better choices, perform better in school and aspire to higher education, and say that having a mentor in their life provided stability at a difficult time.

“You need a good pool of bigs – mentors – and mentees,” said Stacey Kramer, CEO of BBBS-NH.

The pool of volunteer mentors is quickly growing in the Lakes Region, and a training session will likely be organized in December.

In addition to individual volunteers, Kramer said she would like to explore institutional partnerships. In other parts of the state, Big Brothers Big Sisters has partnered with companies, and employees of those companies show their mentee what their workplace is like.

In other parts of the country, Big Brothers Big Sisters has developed “Bigs in Blue” programs, which connect children with mentors who work in law enforcement.

“What I’d like to bring to New Hampshire is ‘Bigs in Badges,’” including mentors from all emergency services, Kramer said. She has already begun talks with the Laconia Police Department. “For this to be the area to start that program would be very exciting.”

Mike McFadden, who works with the Belknap County Court Diversion program, said there’s a commonality among most of the young men he sees.

“The majority of the males we deal with lack a male role model that is consistently in the home,” McFadden said. “When there’s no male at home, or no male that is consistently there… it’s important for them to have a mentor so they know there’s something different.”

To learn more about volunteering as a mentor, or about enrolling a child, visit www.bbbsnh.org.