It was an exciting night for major players within Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) Humboldt with their Big Celebration Gala and awards night on Oct. 12.
While they may still be quite new to the organization, Morgan Forester and Jodie Hergott are no stranger to the hard work and dedication that goes into matches and fundraisers.
Honouring those who make a difference in community is an important part of the night, says Hergott.
“We just wanted our sponsors, our donors, and our bigs to feel appreciated and made aware of what their contributions to our agency means.”
Three volunteers and one organization was honoured during the ceremony.
Payge Newberry took home Youth of the Year, and while she was not at the ceremony to receive her award, Forester did read a prepared statement on her behalf.
Newberry’s work with BBBS as an in-school mentor until her graduation from Muenster School started her off on a path towards Social Work, which she is currently working towards with classes at St. Peter’s College.
“Doing this has been such a great and memorable experience for her. Being part of this program and having such a great mentee has made such a positive impact on her life,” read Forester.
Kelly Painter took home the Mentor of the Year, being matched with his little brother since 2015. His little brother accepted his award on his behalf with plenty of kind words about the time they spend together.
Mentors, like Painter, make a huge impact on the lives of their littles, says Forester, as well as in the community.
“It lifts the community up, creates a great attitude, shows that we care, and it really makes our community a friendly place to live...we want to celebrate them and the work that they do,” says Forester
Brenda Freistadt has been a mentor and volunteer with the organization since 2014, helping out with fundraisers, including the first ever purse auction in 2016 as well as being a big sister until 2017.
“As most of you know the first year of any event can come with a lot of work and the occasional hiccups,” says Hergott, but Freistadt was a big up throughout the whole Purse Auction process from brainstorming to taking pictures and posting on social media.
For Freidstadt, being a big was a very rewarding experience with her little teaching her as much as she learned from her.
Reel Attractions owners, Mike Yager and Shannon Beaurivage, have been involved with the Humboldt organization for many years with Yager joining the board back in 1999 before they even had any matches.
Helping BBBS is a no brainer, says Yager as he accepted the Champion Award for supporting Humboldt and area youth.
Their donations of monthly movie passes for littles ensures that they have a free monthly outing with their big and they have also extended their donation to include littles on the BBBS waiting list, says Hergott.
For all of this, they are truly grateful, she says.
BBBS currently have 13 matches in the community that are going strong with even more interviews coming up in the future.
However, there are 17 littles that are still waiting for matches, some who will or already have spent years on the waiting list, says Forester, and they were represented by purple balloons around the room.
“We’re hoping to get some more mentors involved and get our littles off the waiting list.”
