The CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters, a Community of Caring says adults bring different skills and interests to mentoring. Amy Kuchta says the organization hopes to find 60 mentors over 60 days in the Kalamazoo area.
The agency serves Kalamazoo, Allegan, Calhoun and Van Buren Counties, but Kuchta says right now the focus is on Kalamazoo. She says the goal is to match 300 children in Kalamazoo by the end of the year. Kuchta says they will focus on the other counties next year. The agency is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year in Kalamazoo.
While Big Brothers Big Sisters seeks to help children develop, Kuchta says adult volunteers get a chance to give back and to watch a child grow. She says volunteers also enjoy helping the next generation come up. Kuchta says Big Brothers Big Sisters ask mentors to commit to a year, but she says many people stay longer. Kuchta says the time spent together is what’s important, not necessarily what the mentors do with children.
Asked about the biggest hurdles to getting people to volunteer, Kuchta says the time commitment. She says mentors can include their own family so they don’t take time away from their own children. Kuchta says potential volunteers may also think the expectations are that they have to “save” or “fix” a child.
Kuchta says there is a waiting list of children. She says she would like to find a mentor for all of them. But Kuchta says “I don’t know how realistic that is.”
