Must! Charities announces $253,000 collaboration with Big Brothers Big Sisters
Must! Charities announced this week a new, four-year collaboration and over $253,000 investment with Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Luis Obispo County. Must! Charities will come along side Big Brothers Big Sisters with financial and business expertise that will allow them to have a greater impact in the region where it is needed most. The goal is to expand youth mentoring in an underserved region, making sure children, who ask for assistance from an adult, receive the help they need.
Currently there are 34 youth from the northern region of SLO County, waiting to have access to a mentor. With local drug problems increasing among youth, local gang-related issues continuing to raise concerns, and limited budgets with ever increasing caseloads for family advocates servicing families in need, today’s youth are facing adversity in their lives and searching for an outlet of hope and happiness. Big Brothers Big Sisters nationally proven model shows the opportunity for success; however, limited resources and other obstacles have forced Big Brothers Big Sisters of SLO County to focus on maintaining youth services, rather than volunteer outreach and recruitment in the North County.
“After wrapping up a 10 month vetting process we recognize both the need for increased mentoring and the ability and desire Big Brothers Big Sisters of SLO County has to address these needs in the North County,” shared Becky Gray, executive director of Must! Charities. “This is our largest collaboration we’ve embarked upon since our inception project in 2012, and while we are just making the announcement publicly, we are thrilled at the positive response the community has given us thus far, as this project will truly require the ‘it takes a village’ mentality to make it a success.”
Must! Charities is committed to invest in funding for a full-time community based coordinator to create and sustain mentor matches in the North County, as well as other funding needs and business expertise to see this project through. The gifting from Must! Charities is driven by benchmarks set forth by both organizations, and strategically decreases over the course of the 4 years allowing Big Brothers Big Sisters to sustainably continue to support the need and growth for the North County region well after Must! Charities’ commitment has been fulfilled.
“The generosity of Must! Charities will allow Big Brothers Big Sisters to grow the number of youth we serve in the North County by 400%,” said Anna Boyd-Bucy, executive director of the SLO County Big Brothers Big Sisters. “The funding by Must! Charities allows for systemic change within the community. A nationwide study conducted for Big Brothers Big Sisters by Harris Interactive found that adults who were involved as children in our program, were better educated, wealthier and reported stronger relationships with their spouses, children and friends. Must! charities is making that possible for local youth.”
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