Bigs in Brown

With this initiative we partner with local Sheriff’s Offices to provide mentors for youth facing adversity. The mentors are made up of employees of the Sheriff’s Office which may include deputies, corrections staff, dispatchers, administrative staff, etc. We currently partner with the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office and hope to expand to other counties in our service area.

Dr. Potter Bigs on Campus Mentoring Initiative

We are partnering with St. Cloud State University, Spanier Bus Service and the St. Cloud School District; AVID students will be bussed to SCSU where they will be matched with an Area Business Professional, employee of SCSU or Alumni of SCSU. They will meet twice a month on campus. The AVID program works primarily with students of color, low income, or those whose families are first generation college students. The purpose of this initiative is introduce the students to college and also provide professional adult mentors to the students.

Operation Military Mentoring

Big Brothers Big Sisters supports children from military families and engages active duty, reserve, and retired military personnel as volunteer mentors. It’s an opportunity to provide support and friendship to families who give so much to protect our freedom and serves to reinforce the connection between a child and their parent/guardian by offering a friend to children within military families.

Bigs in Blue

This initiative allows on-duty police officers to mentor youth who are facing adversity. This initiative was developed to create positive and respectful relationships with people who have authority, including officers. We currently have partnerships with the St. Cloud, Sartell and Waite Park Police Departments and looking to expand to other department in our service area.

Sports Buddies

This initiative provides opportunities for adults who are passionate about sports to help build friendships and model good sportsmanship. It provides the opportunity for youth to experience sporting and recreational events that were once out of reach. Also, it is an opportunity for sports teams/organizations to get involved by hosting sports clinics, fishing events, etc. and providing tickets to events for our matches and families to participate in. All you need to do is show up and have fun. When you do, you'll be helping a kid - someone who'll look up to you and whose life you can change just by playing ball. Love sports? Come on ... it's game time!

College & Career Readiness

Big Brothers Big Sisters provides activities for our youth to help prepare them for college and career. This includes such activities as: scholarship opportunities, Toolkit for College night, college visits, FAFSA Workshop, Career Exploration Night, etc. These activities are open to all current and past Littles as well as High School Bigs.

Mentoring Children of Incarcerated Parents

The objective of the Mentoring Children of Incarcerated Parents initiative is to create quality, lasting, one-to-one relationships that provide children of offenders with caring role models for future success. Mentors provide opportunities for youth to gain new skills and interests and expand their experiences beyond their families, schools, and neighborhoods by acting as a trusted friend.

Bridging Generations

Big Brothers Big Sisters recruits and engages volunteers age 55+ to share their time and life experiences thru youth mentoring. This initiative makes a positive impact across the generations and offer long-lasting effects. Often times we hear potential mentors say, “I wish I would have done that when I was younger,” thinking they are, in their opinion, “too old.” We have found great success in mentors age 55+, both for the mentor and the youth.

Faith-Based

Our Faith-Based mentors help the youth explore their faith journey while engaging in fun activities they both enjoy. Mentors may share about their faith to help the youth with their own faith journey and teach/model the importance of serving others. As with all of our mentors, this has to be prior approved with the parent/guardian and an interest of the youth.