Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Illinois

Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) provides quality, one-to-one mentoring services to children ages 5-18 in Sangamon, Christian, Macoupin and Montgomery Counties. 

BBBS offers two mentoring programs for children. A volunteer, Big Brother or Big Sister, and the child he or she is matched with are called a "match". Community Based Mentoring allows matches to spend 10-14 hours a month together out in the community doing activities such as going to the park, watching a baseball game, attending a community event, or working on homework. School Based Mentoring allows matches to spend at least one hour a week together at the child’s elementary school eating lunch, playing games, playing on the playground, and/or working on school work. All volunteers are carefully screened and a professional BBBS staff member provides case management support to every match to strengthen the relationship and foster a long-lasting friendship.

Statistics and independent research tell us our mentoring programs work, the children in our program are:

• 52% less likely to skip school
• 46% less likely to begin using illegal drugs
• 33% less likely engage in violent behavior
• 27% less likely to skip school, and
• 80% of the children we serve show academic improvement in math and language arts

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Illinois, an affiliate of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, was organized and incorporated in 1972. Our mission is to create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth.  Our vision and goal is to provide a mentor to every child who needs and wants one, contributing to better schools, brighter futures, and stronger communities for all.