Program aims to help 325 youth across the region this year
By Mario Carr EBS CONTRIBUTOR
On Feb. 24 at 6 p.m., at the AC Marriott Hotel in downtown Bozeman, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Big Sky Country will be hosting its largest fundraising event of the year. Titled “The Big Event,” this evening will be a “gold-inspired,” “Montana black-tie” event with dinner, live and silent auctions, and signature drinks. Attendees are encouraged to bring their dancing shoes.
“This is the big one of the year for all of the communities that we serve,” said Allie Campbell, Big Sky program manager for BBBS of Big Sky Country.
Bozeman serves as the central gathering point for the organization that has programs in Big Timber, Ennis, Bozeman, Livingston and Big Sky. BBBS of Big Sky Country has been operating for 50 years and has a goal of serving 325 youths this year. There are currently 145 active Big Brothers and Sisters across all of BBBS of Big Sky Country, and “Littles” on wait lists in all locations.
“Each location is a little bit different… We’ve got about 55 matches in Big Sky because the high schoolers at Lone Peak volunteer and come once a week to meet with their littles at Ophir,” Campbell said.
The BBBS program in Big Sky is unique because it relies mainly on site-based programming at the school and at BASE.
“BASE approached us wanting to have more programming available for middle schoolers in Big Sky… Right now we’re doing [group mentoring] once a month until we can gain a little bit more traction, but hopefully weekly,” Campbell said.
Campbell said that they typically have a few new “Bigs” enrolled as a result of the fundraising events.
“We ask our ‘Bigs’ to commit to a year minimum, and a lot of our matches are together for way longer than that,” Campbell explained.
One of the most common feedback requests that Campbell receives is a desire for more BBBS events in Big Sky. Campbell also wants people to know that BBBS is already a large part of the community, and that Bigs and Littles are recreating together frequently on their own time.
BBBS of Big Sky Country is hoping to hire a program manager in Big Timber, which will bring the organization to 10 staff members. Campbell encourages anybody with a desire to get involved to reach out about volunteering in any capacity.
“Even if they don’t have time to become a ‘Big’ or have a child to enroll, we’re doing lots of different things and can definitely use support in pretty much every way,” Campbell said.
