Congratulations to our Big Mentor of the Month – Petra F.!
Petra’s journey with mentoring at Big Brothers Big Sisters started during the pandemic. It was an opportunity for her to provide social support to someone, that she knew would benefit from it. “I struggled socially in my pre-teen years and often thought about the value of having a strong support system would have had on my upbringing.” This led Petra to mentor with BBBS and “it was an excellent decision.” Her match with her mentee, Addy, was met with the challenges of the pandemic, but they persevered and have continued as a 1:1 virtual match, even though Petra moved out of Province! They have discovered ways to virtually stay connected. “Addy keeps a running list of things she wants to talk about,” when they meet virtually once a week. This helps them feel like they are not missing out on being in person. They chat about “school assignments, events, or even just something fun that happened at the skate park.” This is such a great example of the relationships our programs encourage; sometimes youth just need someone to talk to. Petra and Addy’s match is also proof that the benefits are reciprocal – more often than not, the mentor feels the benefits of the relationship formed too!
Thinking about becoming a BIG? Send in your application: https://oxford.bigbrothersbigsisters.ca/volunteer/
