Big Brothers Big Sisters celebrate expansion with ribbon cutting ceremony

Posted: 4:00 pm, March 31, 2015 by Editor Skye Pratt

Big Brothers Big Sisters open new Paso Robles office at 517 13th St.

On March 17, the Big Brother and Big Sisters Paso Robles office officially opened. Vicki Janssen from Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian’s office and Vicki Shelby Fogleman from the County of San Luis Obispo issued proclamations honoring the occasion. Both the Paso Robles and Atascadero chambers were present to cut ribbons and welcome the new office.

Must! charities presented a check for $253,000, representing a four year investment in Big Brothers Big Sisters with a goal of expanding youth mentoring in the North County. Big Brothers Big Sisters has hired an additional caseworker and opened the Paso Robles location to better serve the North County community.

Anna Boyd-Bucy from Big Brothers Big Sisters said, “48 children have asked for help. They know they are at a pivotal point in their lives, making important decisions, and they have asked for a local adult to help them. We hope that having the Paso Robles office for volunteer convenience will inspire local adults to share their interests with a child for just six hours a month. We are so grateful that must! charities is making that possible for local youth.”

“On behalf of must! charities, we are excited to see the vision come together to bring Big Brothers Big Sisters to an area of the county where the need is proven to be greatest and we are honored to be the funding organization to make this happen,” said Becky Gray from must! charities.

More about Big Brother Big Sisters

For more than 100 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters has operated under the belief that, “inherent in every child is the ability to succeed and thrive in life.” Most children they serve are in single-parent and low-income families or households where a parent is incarcerated. As a part of the nation’s largest donor and volunteer supported mentoring network, they strive to create, “meaningful, monitored friendships between adult volunteers and children.”

Funding provides for a system of ongoing evaluation and support that is proven by independent studies to help families by improving the odds that participating children will perform better in school, avoid violence and illegal activities, and have stronger relationships with their parents and others. For more information on volunteering or contributing to Big Brothers Big Sisters, call (805) 781-3226, or log onto www.slobigs.org.