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Children need mentors and UP Kids—Big Brothers Big Sisters is helping to establish those valuable relationships.
While there are plenty of kids, the shortage of volunteers to be Big Brothers continues and the number of young people volunteering is dropping.
Program Director Maggie Munch says a Big Brother or Big Sister can be of any age–you just need to love kids. “Don’t mistaken in thinking that college volunteers are necessarily the only or the ideal volunteer that we’re looking for,” said Munch. “We’re really truly looking for community members or are maybe rooted here—empty nesters or grandparents who have grandkids who don’t live in the area and they want a little kid time, maybe. We’re looking for your regular community member to volunteer for this program and there’s no upper age limit for the volunteers.”
The 27th annual Bowl for Kids’ Sake is the primary fundraiser for UP Kids—Big Brothers Big Sisters and now is the time to start raising money.
“Each person who’s bowling or participating in the event, they get a donation envelop that they can go out and ask others for a flat rate donation and just collect the contribution from them and bring it with them to the bowling event. We also have teams that are doing different mini-fundraisers leading up to the event,” Munch said.
The event will be held on Saturday, March 30th at the Mine Shaft in Houghton, with sessions taking place at noon, 2:30pm, and 5:00pm.
A minimum donation of $37 gets you two hours of bowling, free pizza, and there will also be a silent auction.
Registration can be done online at www.upkids.com, by email at bbbs@upkids.com or call (906) 487-9855 for more information.
