Big Brother Big Sister presents ‘Local Pals’

BY KADIE TAYLOR

THE LAFAYETTE SUN

VALLEY — The Valley Local has sign-ups open for its first Local Pals Big Brother Big Sister Program.

“So we have sign-up sheets right now on our Facebook, and I will add them to our website,” said Director of the Valley Local, Sara Crutchfield. “There are also sign-up sheets at His Purpose Nutrition, Casita on 29, there are sign-up sheets at Lanett Parks and Recreation and at city of Valley Community Center. The deadline to sign up is Sept. 5.”

Crutchfield said the purpose of the Big Brother Big Sister Program is to nurture the younger generation.

“The younger generation is the future of our community, and I do believe that getting them out in the community to help in different ways helps them to gain that love of community,” she said.

When partnering participants, Crutchfield said that care will be taken to match pairs.

“Of course, with an 18-year-old, we’re not going to partner them with a 19-year-old; we’re going to gauge it well,” she said. “Every big pal will be interviewed for us to get a better feel, and on our sign-up sheet, we ask the parents some questions about their child, so that way we can look at different things to make sure we do our best to partner people out with their best mentor.”

Participants in the Big Brother Big Sister Program will have the opportunity to participate in events that the Valley Local will organize and host.

“The Valley Local plans to host or coordinate a gathering once a month,” Crutchfield said. “If there’s an agreement between the parents and the big pals, for the big pals to be involved a little more than just that monthly gathering, then something like that can be done as well. We plan to take the pals to local restaurants, ball fields, bowling alleys and things like that to be able to get out into the community and support the local businesses, all while spending time and mentoring the younger generations in our community.”

With sign-ups underway, Crutchfield said she has heard a lot of positive feedback from local parents who are excited for their children to participate in the program.

“We’ve had a lot of parents reach out and say, ‘I can’t wait for this to start,’” she said. “We really need this for our community. We’ve had a lot of feedback from a lot of parents in the community who are super excited and are signing their kids up.”

Crutchfield said she hopes this program will provide mentorship opportunities for local kids who need support and encouragement. For more information, visit The Valley Local on Facebook or www.thevalleylocal.org/.

“We hope that the younger generation can gain a great mentor,” she said. “We hope it builds more community, and people meet their neighbors and other people that are in our community and see that you can build that relationship, friendship or have that mentorship with anyone in the community.”