INDIANAPOLIS— Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana are in need of mentors, more specifically male mentors.
Right now there are more than 1,000 kids waiting to be matched with a mentor, or “Big,” of their own, and 800 of these kids are boys. On average, boys wait more than 1.5 years for a mentor.
The organization, in partnership with the Indianapolis Indians, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Indiana Sports Corp, is launching “Rally for MENtors: 300 Men in 3 Months.”
"Only about 30 percent of the people who sign up to be "Bigs" are men typically," said Darcey Palmer-Shultz, the CEO of Big Brother Big Sisters of Central Indiana.
The organization has done campaigns like this before that have been successful, but Palmer-Shultz says the need is always growing.
"Every time we match one child, there's probably another one or two joining the wait list."
One of their current mentors is Rashun Roper.
"Me growing up I didn’t have that positive impact in my life. I don’t think I made a lot of bad choices but I could have made better choices," said Roper.
Roper's "little" is 10-year-old Pierce.
"So I could have time to be with with somebody that I could talk to, somebody I could vent to if I needed to, and somebody that I can just hang out with and be a kid around and be myself with," said Pierce.
The volunteer recruitment campaignstarts on April 1, 2024 and ends on June 30th.
