SEPTEMBER 15, 2023: GREATER VANCOVER, B.C. – This Big Brothers Big Sisters Day will be the largest and most widespread lighting event the Lower Mainland has ever seen, on Sept. 18.

Landmarks in nearly every municipality Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver serves will glow teal in support of youth mentorship and highlight the urgent need for local volunteers. Lightings can be found in Vancouver, Surrey, Burnaby, New Westminster, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody and North Vancouver.

Big Brothers Big Sisters Day is a provincially-recognized celebration of the volunteers and mentors serving young people in local communities.

This will be the first year municipalities, other than the City of Vancouver, throughout the Lower Mainland participate in recognizing the occasion.

The new lighting landmarks include: Surrey Civic Plaza; Coquitlam lighting features at Lafarge Lake and along Pinetree Way; Port Coquitlam City Hall; Port Moody City Hall; New Westminster City Hall; North Vancouver City Hall; Burnaby City Hall and BC Parkway illuminations between Patterson and Edmonds SkyTrain stations.

In Vancouver, the Pacific Coliseum will be also be a first-time participant to light up in support of the day while Science World will shine once again after missing out in 2022 due to maintenance.

Additionally, Vancouver City Hall, BC Place, the Sails of Light at Canada Place and Burrard Street Bridge will illuminate teal in celebration.

Last year, Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver volunteers served more than 700 youth through it’s free mentorship programs in Vancouver, Surrey, the Tri-Cities, Richmond, Burnaby, New Westminster, the North Shore, Delta and White Rock. Before the pandemic, the organization served more than 1,000 children annually.

In Surrey, the non-profit continues to face a severe volunteer shortage and was forced to paused family intake in April 2021, in response to the lack of mentors. New family intake inquiries are still closed and are instead being added to the organization’s waitlist.

There are more than 30 families in the Surrey waitpool, for the Big Brothers Community Program, with many more on the waitlist to enroll their child into the program. On average, children in Surrey wait more than 2 years to be matched with a volunteer, friend and mentor.

“We’ve experienced a huge drop in total volunteers since the pandemic, but continue to see a consistent rise in demand from families in our communities wanting to enroll in our programs. There are hundreds of children who could greatly benefit from a mentor, if they had one,” Rose Higgins, Program Director at BBGV, said.

“We are all capable of building connections and community if we work together. At Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver, we are here to support youth mentorship every step of the way.”

For those interested in volunteering and becoming a mentor, visit: bigbrothersvancouver.com/volunteer/inquire.

Media Contact:
Norman Galimski, Marketing and Communications Coordinator – ngalimski@bbgvf.com 

 

August 31, 2023: GREATER VANCOVER, B.C. – September is Big Brothers Big Sisters Month and Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver (BBGV) is on a mission to prove the benefits of mentorship for youth.

The local agency is launching a new campaign, called “Mentorship Equals,” to highlight the research that measurably demonstrates how children benefit from the mentorship equation their free programs offer.

“The data clearly demonstrates what we’ve seen in practice over decades of intentional relationship-building. Mentorship creates connection, inclusion and belonging for children and carries positive and reciprocal benefits in the lives of mentees and their mentors well into the future,” Rose Higgins, Program Director at BBGV, said.

Big Brothers Big Sisters Month is a provincially-recognized celebration of the volunteer-mentors serving youth throughout our communities. It’s also a time when the organization shines a light on the large shortage of volunteers needed to meet the demand of families looking for a mentor.

In this science-based initiative, Big Brothers and Big Sisters Canada (BBBSC) has taken proactive action.

During the summer 2020, BBBSC partnered with researchers from York University, Drs. Craig and Pepler, and the University of Victoria, Dr. Ames, on a collaborative research project, Building Bigger Connections.

The findings were clear: Big Brothers Big Sisters mentees reported feeling more supported and less isolated, worried or anxious than youth outside of the program. Children enrolled in the program also reported better mental health while facing equal or greater adversities than their non-mentored peers.

Additional research from Search Institute suggest that by volunteering as a mentor, one person can have significant and profound impact on the life of a child facing adversities.

“After decades of forming hypotheses, conducting surveys, crafting and rewriting definitions, analyzing data and writing journal articles, Search Institute researchers and practitioners have arrived at a surprisingly simple conclusion: nothing—nothing—has more impact in the life of a child than positive relationships,” Peter Benson, former Search Institute president and CEO, said.

Through their free volunteer-led programs, BBGV’s mission is to empower children and youth to reach their full potential though impactful mentoring relationships in collaboration with local communities.

“Mentorship happens when we express care, provide support, challenge growth and expand possibilities for children and youth,” Higgins explained.

Before the pandemic, the organization served more than 1,000 young people in Greater Vancouver per year. In 2021 to 2022, the non-profit served 723 children due in large part to a nation-wide volunteer shortage. However, since then, there have been signs that the tide may be turning.

“We’ve seen a significant increase in volunteer applications over the last year, but even with that bump in numbers we still have a long way to go to meet the needs of our community and serve as many children as we did before the pandemic began,” Higgins said.

“While this a positive trend in the right direction, we cannot ignore the current picture. We have the largest need for volunteers in our communities ever with over 80 children ready and waiting to be matched with a mentor. In Surrey, the demand has passed a critical point. Since April of 2021, we’ve paused accepting new family applications for our Community Program until we’re able to find enough volunteers for the children already in our waitpool.”

Currently there are more than 30 youths in the Surrey waitpool with many more families on the waitlist.

The term “waitpool” is used by BBGV to describe children approved for their programs and are in the process of finding and being matched with a volunteer while “waitlist” refers to the number of families who have inquired about enrolling their child into the mentorship program, but cannot be accommodated due to the shortage of volunteers.

“We’ve experienced a huge drop in total volunteers since the pandemic, but continue to see a consistent rise in demand from families in our communities wanting to enroll in our programs. There are hundreds of children who could greatly benefit from a mentor, if they had one,” Higgins said.

“We are all capable of building connections and community if we work together. At BBGV, we are here to support youth mentorship every step of the way.”

BBGV runs mentorship programs in Vancouver, Surrey, the Tri-Cities, Richmond, Burnaby, New Westminster, the North Shore, Delta and White Rock.

For those interested in volunteer and becoming a volunteer, visit  bigbrothersvancouver.com/volunteer/inquire.

The cold and rain are here to stay, so we want to take look back at the wonderful day at the Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club for our annual B2Gold Big Brothers Golf Classic!

It was so much fun in the sun that was made even better by how much we raised to support children and youth in our communities: $347,351!

Ninety-four golfers hit the greens for a good cause, which was all made possible by our 29 generous sponsors.

A special thank you to B2Gold Corp. for their continuous support over the last 11 years as our Title Sponsor, in our annual fundraising event at the beautiful Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club. Our Gold Sponsors included; Calibre Mining, Raymond James, Haywood Securities, Wheaton Precious Metals, BMO Capital Markets, FLSmidth, National Bank, and Langara Island Lodge. Our Media Sponsor and banquet dinner host was Global BC accompanied by their very own Mark Madryga.

We sincerely appreciate the valuable role you play in this event year after year!

But what is a good day without great food?

Well, the tournament was made extra-special by our on-course supporters and vendors; Studio Brewing; CrackOn Food Truck; Casino Royale; 2000 Cigars; and Tornado Potatoes.

 They kept everyone well-fed and in high-spirits throughout the long sunny day. Golfers were treated to decadent food, specialty cocktails, lavish on-course activities and more. This year we increased on-course activities, hosted an online silent auction, and a cocktail reception – all of which was followed by a banquet dinner.

The event couldn’t have been such a BIG success without the support of 39 awesome volunteers. These amazing people supported us by running golf contests, managing registration, selling raffle tickets and so much more. Their behind-the-scenes efforts are what made this day such a fun and smooth experience for everyone.

As we emerged from the challenges of the pandemic, we’re proud to say that we served more than 750 children and youth across the Greater Vancouver. Our goal is to make children and youth feel supported and connected to their community, friends, family, and to themselves. We will continue to serve our communities through connection by matching our Littles with Bigs who, more than a mentor, are a friend.

Of course, for Big Brothers to make as many matches as we can – it takes time, effort, and support of the community. It is through community events like the B2Gold Big Brothers Golf Classic and the participation of sponsors and donors that help us create impactful long-lasting change.

Ways to get involved in the 2023 B2Gold Big Brothers Golf Classic:

1. Sponsor the event
   Benefits include media coverage, event signage, multiple forms of print material, advertisement space in our tournament yearbook that is sent to all attendees and corporate sponsors (in-print and online).  As well, inclusion in our Annual Report and our Big Night of Stars award ceremony.
2. Treat your clients or staff to a round of golf
   We’ve got everything covered to give your guests the VIP treatment – all you have to do is sign them up and we’ll handle the rest. Don’t forget to reserve a spot for yourself! You won’t want to miss this!
3. Donate products to be showcased
   Have your item featured in our extensive silent auction or provide a prize for one of our on-course contests.
4. Support an on-course activity
   Join our exclusive line-up of vendors offering food, beverage, and product samples.

The opportunities to build your brand and product exposure don’t end there. Our team is happy to work with you to discuss other sponsorship and recognition opportunities that are unique to your company.

Get in touch with our events team at events@bbgvf.com.

Want to give back to the community with us when you can?

If you would like volunteer with us, but you don’t have the time to be a Big, don’t worry! You can volunteer with us at one of our events. We’re always looking for enthusiastic volunteers to join one of our many events throughout the year.

Join us at marathons, holiday parties, golf tournaments, and more! Volunteering with us is a great opportunity for networking, getting involved with your community, and working for a BIG cause while having a great time.

Volunteer at an event with us!

Watch this year’s B2Gold Big Brothers Gold Classic:

Our bi-monthly E-newsletter gets you the inside scoop into everything Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver. You’ll get to read great stories about our matches, what YOU (our communities and volunteers) are doing to support youth where we live, news of past and upcoming fun events for matches and their families to attend, see some fantastic photography and much more! 

Haven’t subscribed yet? Click here!

Below, you can find our catalogue of previous E-editions.

• July 2023 – Download
• May 2023 – Download
• March 2023 – Download
• January 2023 – Download
• November 2022 – Download
• September 2022 – Download
• July 2022 – Download
• May 2022 – Download
• March 2022 – Download
• January 2022 – Download
• November 2021 – Download
• August 2021 – Download
• June 2021 – Download
• April 2021 – Download
• February 2021 – Download
• December 2020 – Download
• November 2020 – Download
• August 2020 – Download
• July 2020 – Download