The holiday season is a time of sharing joy, celebration, gathering, and reflection. At Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oxford County, we take this time to express our gratitude for our mentees, mentors, caregivers, donors, sponsors, and supporters. We celebrate our successes and acknowledge the dedication and generosity of our community to make this possible.
This past year in Oxford County, Big Brothers Big Sisters have:
– Received 282 child application/intakes.
– Matched 391 young people in new programs, including 108 new one-to-one mentoring matches, and in 283 group programs.
– Provided direct services to 545 young people, offering stability, support, and opportunities to grow.
– Matched 79 volunteer mentors in our programs, including one-to-one and group mentoring.
We are grateful to celebrate these successes with you, but must recognize that the need for support is growing in Oxford County. With approximately 145 young people on our waitlist, and as an agency that does not receive core or ongoing government funding, we know the year ahead will come with continued challenges; recruiting new volunteer mentors and maintaining financial supports to ensure our programs remain barrier free to young people and their families, as all of our programs are offered at no cost. When a young person asks us, โDo I have a mentor yet?โ, you can help BBBS say YES!
Gift of Guidance:
You can apply to become a mentor, or share our need for volunteer mentors with your family, friends, and colleagues. If you know someone who would be a wonderful mentor, encourage them to reach out to BBBSOC and learn more about being a mentor in Oxford County
Gift of Potential:
When you make a monetary donation, you Ignite Potential and as Mary Ellen said, create a life-changing opportunity for a young person in your community. All funds stay in Oxford County, supporting free mentoring programs, monitored by professionally educated and trained caseworkers.
As we reflect on the generosity that strengthens our mission, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to you for supporting Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oxford County. Your contributions create opportunities that shape brighter futures for young people in our community. Thank you for believing in the power of mentorship and being a part of something truly transformative.
โA small act of kindness is the seed of hope that can grow into a forest of change.โ
๐๐๐ฒ ๐: ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐
Apply to become a mentor, or share our need for volunteer mentors with your family, friends, colleagues, peers, and neighbours. If you know someone who would be a wonderful mentor, encourage them to reach out to BBBSOC and learn more about being a mentor in Oxford County. In as little as one hour a week, you can Ignite Potential๐ฅ while creating a life-changing mentoring relationship for a young person in your community. Go to theย Volunteer tab to learn more about mentoring with BBBSOC.
๐๐๐ฒ ๐: ๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ ๐๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐
Shane has been with BBBSOC for over three years as mentor in our Big Brothers program. He was looking at ways he could make a positive impact in his community and he landed at BBBS. Shane wanted to serve as a positive role model and provide guidance for a young person who could use that additional adult support in their life. Shane says, ” ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ญ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ท๐ฐ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต. ๐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ท๐ฐ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ช๐จ ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐น๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ญ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บโ.
Mentorship changes two lives, the mentees and the mentors. Your small act of mentorship is a big impact in a kid’s life. This holiday season, join us in celebrating the joy of mentorship.
๐๐๐ฒ ๐: ๐๐ข๐๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐๐จ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐
When you make a monetary donation, you Ignite Potential๐ฅ and create a life-changing opportunity for a young person in your community. All funds stay in Oxford County, supporting free mentoring programs, monitored by professionally educated and trained caseworkers.
“๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ช๐จ ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐๐ช๐จ ๐๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐โ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ-๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ค๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ. ๐๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ๐ด ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ถ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฅ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ. ๐๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ!” ~ ๐๐ช๐ฎ, ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ
๐๐๐ฒ ๐: ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฌ. ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐จ๐ซ! ๐
Say Yes, like Claira did, and become a mentor today with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oxford County. Claira and Emmilyn were officially matched last week, what an awesome way to head into the holiday season and start of the new year! ๐ Read more about our 1:1 mentoring programs and volunteering with BBBSOC here: https://oxford.bigbrothersbigsisters.ca/what-we-do/our-programs/.
You can say ๐๐๐ฌ. You can ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐จ๐ซ! Apply today to Ignite Potential๐ฅ in 2025โ
๐๐๐ฒ ๐: ๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ ๐
๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ฌ ๐
#DYK that when you donate securities, like stocks & bonds, or mutual funds, it is the most efficient way to give charitably as capital gains (in most cases) do not apply, the charity receives the full market value, and you receive a tax receipt! When you donate your securities to BBBSOC you Ignite Potential๐ฅ and create life-changing mentoring relationships for young people in your community! ๐ป๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ 2024 ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ญ๐๐๐
๐๐, ๐ซ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ 20๐๐. Please speak to your financial advisor/planner to see how you can make your donation.
๐๐๐ฒ ๐: ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐จ๐ซ ๐
BBBSOC offers community and school-based mentoring programs, including SOAR (Social Opportunities Activities Relationship), All Play, Go Girls, and Game On. Group mentoring allows for shorter time commitments and the flexibility of days and evenings, while still providing life-changing mentorship relationship for young people in Oxford County.
โ๐๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง 1 ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฌ, ๐ช๐ต ๐ง๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ค๐ต.โ ~๐๐ฐ ๐๐ช๐ณ๐ญ๐ด ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ
This holiday season, join us in celebrating the joy of mentorship. Apply now to Ignite Potential๐ฅ in the new year! Read more about our group mentoring programs and volunteering with BBBSOC here: https://oxford.bigbrothersbigsisters.ca/what-we-do/our-programs/.
๐๐๐ฒ ๐: ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐
Legacy, also known as Planned Giving, is a donation made by an individual (or family) through their will or estate planning designation. Bequests are typically the most common type of legacy giving, which designates a dollar amount or portion of the total estate to be donated to a charity. These are not always made posthumously and in many cases begin while the benefactor is able to see their contributions make an impact in their community. Join BBBSOC in creating life-changing mentoring relationships and Ignite Potential๐ฅ in Oxford County. Ensure those involved in your planning know your wishes and contact Big Brothers Big Sisters if you would like to learn how your planned giving can build brighter futures in your community for years to come. ๐
๐๐๐ฒ ๐: ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ก๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ง๐จ๐ซ ๐
Ignite Potential๐ฅ and become a monthly donor with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oxford County. Visit our DONATE page and enroll to be a monthly donor by selecting the date and dollar amount you want to donate each month, and at the end of the year, you’ll receive an electronic tax receipt for your annual contributions.
๐จ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐
๐๐๐, ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐๐๐๐ ๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐:
๐ Supports free mentoring programs,
๐ Stays in Oxford County,
๐ Creates more opportunities,
๐ Ignites Potential for a young person facing adversities,
๐ Enables life-changing mentoring relationships,
๐ Helps BBBS say YES to more young people.
“Knowing that young people in my community have access to barrier free mentoring programs at no cost is important to me and a big part of the reason why I chose to be a monthly donor.” ~BBBSOC Monthly Donor
๐๐๐ฒ ๐: ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ข๐ฉ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ณ
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oxford County host multiple fundraising events through the year including Play For Kids’ Sake, Trivia Nite, and our largest fundraiser of the year Big Night Out Charity Ball Halloween Bash! Participate with your family, friends, colleagues, or peers, while raising funds for free youth mentoring programs in #OxfordCounty! Stay informed by following our social media pages and check our website for all of the details: https://oxford.bigbrothersbigsisters.ca/event/! ๐
๐ Registration is open for Play For Kids’ Sake – register now to get in on the early bird draw! ๐
๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐: ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ญ & ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ๐
Whether you invest in one or more of our fundraising events, host a third-party fundraiser, or directly support a program, your support benefits the children and youth of Oxford County. BBBSOC has been creating and empowering life-changing relationships for children and youth who face adversity for 55 years in Oxford County.
Throughout the years our free services have evolved to meet the changing needs of youth, families and our volunteers. Your contributions create opportunities that shape brighter futures for young people in our community. Check out our 2025 Sponsorship Opportunities here and if you have questions or would like to get involved, let’s chat and see how you can Ignite Potential๐ฅ in 2025! https://oxford.bigbrothersbigsisters.ca/ways-to-give/sponsorship-form/ ๐
๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐: ๐๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐๐ญ, ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ! ๐The Small Act of mentorship has an everlasting BIG Impact on youth in our community. Big Brothers Big Sisters has been creating and empowering life-changing relationships for children and youth who face adversity for 55 years in Oxford County. Throughout the years our free services have evolved to meet the changing needs of youth, families and our volunteers.
In 2024, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oxford County have:
– Received 282 child applications/intakes.
– Matched 391 young people in new programs, including 108 new one-to-one mentoring matches, and 283 in group programs.
– Provided direct services to 545 young people, offering stability, support, and growth opportunities.
– Matched 79 volunteer mentors in our programs, including one-to-one and group mentoring.
Find out how you can have a Big Impact and Ignite Potential๐ฅ this holiday season by reading more about being a donor, sponsor, or volunteer!
๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐: ๐๐จ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐๐ ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐๐! ๐ฅ
Becoming a mentor with BBBSOC creates life-changing opportunities for young people in Oxford County. We share stories of the impact mentorship has on youth every day, and here are some of those experiences in their words.
๐ฅ โ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ.โ ~ All Play group participant
๐ฅ โ๐๐ฏ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐บโ ~ A mentee’s response when asked to describe how meeting with their mentor makes them feel in one word.
๐ฅ โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ, ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ช๐ต ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ.โ~ An In-School mentee’s answer when asked to rate her match, which she also gave a 100 out of 10.
๐ฅ “(๐๐ฆ) ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ธ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฐ, ๐ช๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ช๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ”. ~ Mentee speaking about his mentor (Big Brother).
๐ฅ “๐ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฅ๐ด.” ~ SOAR group program participant
This holiday season, join us in celebrating the joy of mentorship. ๐ซ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐!