It was an exciting day for those involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters in the Battlefords.
Mayor Ryan Bater officially proclaimed Sept. 18 as Big Brothers Big Sisters Day in North Battleford.
Bater signed the proclamation at City Hall on Monday morning. In attendance was Renee Sperling, program coordinator for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Battlefords.
To their knowledge this is the first time the day has ever been proclaimed in North Battleford.
The organization is known for matching a young person one-to-one with an adult male or female who can serve as a friend or mentor.
Sperling said their local organization approached City Hall about the idea of a proclamation for Sept. 18, which is the date designated to celebrate the work of BBBS nationally across Canada.
“We reached out to Mayor Bater in the summer, just before August I think, to see if this would be something they would be interested in supporting,” said Sperling.
They immediately got an email back supporting the idea and asking for more information. Last week, the proclamation was officially read at city council.
“It’s really an indication of the work that we’ve done in the last couple of years and sort of this revitalization of this organization and the importance of mentoring youth in our community,” said Sperling.
“A good mentor or a good Big Brother and Big Sister can set a young person on a positive path for their entire life,” said Mayor Bater to reporters. “So it’s really important that we came together as a civic government and supported this day.”
The plan for the local organization is to promote their work throughout the whole month.
According to Sperling, they planned a heavy social media presence on Monday and will be out and about at various upcoming community events.
This Saturday they plan to be at the fifth-annual Fall Festival with information about Big Brothers and Big Sisters. They also will be doing a small fundraiser selling Deep Fried Oreo Sundaes for $5.
As well, the top floor of the RBC Tower will be lit up with purple lights – the colours of the organization – throughout the month,. Big Brothers Big Sisters has offices located just one floor below in the same building.
The organization has recently seen an upsurge in enrollment by youth and families and hope the excitement from the month will translate to some new volunteers they might be able to match to youth.
“We’re really overwhelmed by the amount of support that we’ve gotten,” said Sperling.
“It’s really magical to have that relationship between us and the city, to see these types of things happening in support of community-based organizations.”
More information can be found on Facebook at Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Battlefords or online at www.bbbsbattlefords.ca. Their office number is 306-445-7845.
