Recruiting 500 Caring Volunteers!

The Cause

The greatest asset that our agency has is our volunteers. Our agency facilitates the recruitment training and support of volunteers so that the volunteers can work with children directly in the community. Most organizations in Canada are on a volunteer decline but Edmonton finds itself in a different position – that being an increase in the number of volunteers being able to work with children.

BGCBigs is recruiting more volunteers than we ever have. That sounds like a good problem to have, but our need for funding comes from that success. We simply do not have the staff capacity to screen and support the volunteers interested in becoming a part of our organization. We know that it takes men, on average, 2.3 years to decide if they want to be a mentor. It takes women 1.5 years to do the same. Thus, community members that were recruited almost three years ago are the ones coming forward now to volunteer their time and we don’t want them to wait any longer and possibly change their minds about being a part of BGCBigs.

In order for more children to have a caring adult or older teen mentor in their lives, we will use this funding to recruit, screen, train and match 500 caring mentors to 500 children and youth in our community.

Who Will it Benefit?

BGCBigs became an amalgamated society in July 2011, merging the strengths of two youth-focused organizations into one, which better serves the lives of children and families in the Edmonton area. One of those significant strengths is a lengthy history and depth of knowledge – more than 100 years for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada and more than 50 years for Boys & Girls Clubs of Edmonton – BGCBigs has access to, steering the way as we improve the lives of thousands of children and youth each year.

Last year, we served almost 5000 children and youth with the support of over 3000 volunteers.