News release from Big Brothers Big Sisters:
Big Brothers Big Sisters Announces Recipients of the 2011 Big of the Year Volunteer Awards
Big Brothers Big Sisters hosted its annual Volunteer Recognition Dinner on July 26, 2012 to honor the recipients of the agency’s 2011 Volunteers of the Year awards. Approximately 400 guests attended the dinner and ceremony at Fort Wayne Marriott’s Marquis to join in the celebration and honor volunteerism. Big Brothers Big Sisters staff recognized 28 outstanding nominees and then presented awards to winners in five categories:
Big Sister of the Year: Alyssa Ivanson. Nominees: Alyssa Ivanson, Ella Miller, Laura Boyer, Stacy Need, Sheila Diehl, Rae Davis
Big Brother of the Year: Karl Frincke. Nominees: John Peirce, Justin Butts, Karl Frincke, Tahl Glass, Mike Bodiker, Jonathan Ray
Big Couple of the Year: Kevin & Sherri Bontrager. Nominees: Terry & Dian Drake, Tony & Aimee Clark, Lee & Linda Hughes, Kevin & Sherri Bontrager, Eric & Lauren Harmison, Eric & Cheryl Stadtfeld
School Buddy of the Year: Buford Baker. Nominees: Kevin Erb, Beth Munch, Jason O’Barr, Trina Hoy, Buford Baker, Brad Stiles
First Mentor of the Year: Noah Rider. Nominees: Noah Rider, Ale’ Krudop, Anne “Oe” Kenesey, Erica Godley
Years of Service Awards
The agency also awarded Big Brothers and Big Sisters for their years of volunteer service:
244 volunteers celebrated one year of service
Celebrating five years of service:
Janet Ayers
Nicole Blauvelt
Deborah Blinn
Victoria Boroff
Sue Brown
Susan Carpenter
Rae Davis
Kathleen (Kathy) Fisher
David Fledderjohann
Dan Frazier
Karl Frincke
Lauren Harmison
Rick Hoffmann
Karen Hoover
Connie Kinsey
Matthew LaFontaine
Phillip Logan
Janet Long
Erin Lowden
Trevor Loxton
Connie Lubbehusen
Angelique Mayo
Cassondra McClintock
Susan Peirce
Vincent Pfister
Molita Rittmeyer
Buffy Salinas
Jason Satkowiak
Ben Schenkel
Sara Scott
Sara Scott
Steve Stull
Bob Voors
Bob Wearley
Barbara Wolf
Angela Woosley
Celebrating 30 years of service: Rick McCampbell
Big of the Year for Michigan & Indiana
Every year, every BBBS agency in the nation is able to nominate an outstanding Big Brother and Big Sister from their agency for the National Big of the Year Award from BBBS of America. Last year, we submitted nominations- and we are excited to announce that we won both for the State of Indiana and Michigan.
The recipient of the 2011 Big of the Year for the State of Michigan is Faithann Stauffer. For the last five years, Faith Ann has been a positive and consistent role model to two young ladies; Abigail & Misty. Both matches began as Lunch Buddies and later transitioned to Community Based Matches.
Faith Ann and Abigail were matched in 2007. Faith Ann and Abby spend time focusing on academics. Abby’s teachers have noticed a dramatic improvement in the classroom and credit it to her relationship with her Big Sister – as a motivation to succeed in school. When they are not reading – they enjoy shopping, baking and just simply hanging out together. Faith Ann said, “I’m in love with Abby. My heart is tied to her. I love to see her succeed. When her eyes light up, I get just as excited as she is.”
The time Faith Ann has spent with her Little Sisters has changed their lives in ways that no other person could. Faith Ann is a rock of support for the youth in her community; her passion for helping others has affected all those around her.
The recipient of the 2011 Big of the Year for the State of Indiana is Angelique Mayo. Matched since 2006, Andrea and Angelique are more than friends; they are like real sisters.
Andrea shares with us that Angelique is someone who she can share all of her troubles and successes with, and with Angelique’s constant encouragement – “I’m pursuing my dream to attend college at IUPUI this fall to become a dentist!” Big Sister Angelique challenges Andrea to take Honors and Advanced Placement courses and Andrea embraces opportunities to improve herself. This has helped Andrea become more self-confident and is now a role model for other students at her high school.
They make each other laugh, they challenge each other to achieve goals, and they’ve become the best of friends. Angelique and Andrea don’t just tell people they’re sisters—they believe it!
Big Sister Angelique told us: ” My whole life I’ve wanted that kind of communication with a sister. I finally found it with Andrea. We have a trusting relationship, one where she knows that if she calls me in the middle of the night I’ll always be there to answer. I can’t tell you how much I admire this girl: It makes me so proud to see Andrea succeed every day and the smile on her face when she calls me “sister”
About Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Indiana
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Indiana is a nonprofit organization that serves children in Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Huntington, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Wells, and Whitley counties in Indiana and Branch, Hillsdale and St. Joseph counties in Michigan. Big Brothers Big Sister’s mission is to help children reach their potential through professionally supported one to one relationships with measureable impact. Learn how you can positively impact a child’s life, donate or volunteer at www.BBBSNEI.org.For more than 40 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters has operated under the belief that inherent in every child is the ability to succeed and thrive in life. As the nation’s largest donor and volunteer supported mentoring network, Big Brothers Big Sisters’ mission is to provide children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported one-to-one relationships that change their lives for the better, forever.
Partnering with parents/guardians, schools, corporations and others in the community, Big Brothers Big Sisters carefully pairs children (“Littles”) with screened volunteer mentors (“Bigs”) and monitors and supports them in one-to-one mentoring matches throughout their course. The organization holds itself accountable for children in the program to achieve measurable outcomes, such as higher aspirations; greater confidence and better relationships; educational success; and avoidance of delinquency and other risky behaviors. Most children served by Big Brothers Big Sisters are in single-parent and low-income families or households where a parent is incarcerated.
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