E-Newsletters: Stay updated with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Monterey County!
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With my Little Sister at the Monterey County Fair
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It's almost hard
to believe that I've been here at BBBSMC for 3 months already! We
have had a lot going on, and we continue to rebuild and establish a solid
foundation for the agency as these challenging financial times
continue. This update will cover a lot that's been happening here,
and even more fun - what's coming up for us. Please feel
comfortable calling me if you have any ideas, suggestions, concerns, or
questions about the direction BBBSMC is headed. I am happy to speak
to any group you feel should hear the message about what we do for the
community, and how important helping these kids is to the future of
Monterey County.
Thank you for your ongoing support of Big Brothers Big Sisters of
Monterey County
Brenda
Roncarati
Executive Director
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Monterey County
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 High School Bigs Program in Salinas Underway for 10/11
School Year
The Salinas Division of BBBSMC has launched the 3rd year
of our High School Bigs Program (HSBP). The HSBP is an after-school
program that allows high-school students from North Salinas High School
to volunteer as a Big Brother or Big Sister to a student from from
Natividad Elementary. We've had great success in the past 2 years with
this program that provides teen mentoring in an after-school setting.
The program is structured to work with high school
students, or "Bigs," who are interested in being mentors. BBBS
Staff thoroughly screens and trains the high school Bigs, preparing them
to be the best mentors they can be. After acquiring mentoring skills,
Bigs are matched with 3rd through 5th grade students from Natividad. For
the duration of the 2010-2011 school year, the high school Bigs visit
with their Littles once a week, after school, for an hour or two .
Bigs help with homework and practice reading skills, but
their top priority is to be a loyal friend: listening, giving advice and
encouragement, sharing interests, doing crafts, playing sports, and
having fun. Committed high school Bigs make excellent mentors to
elementary-school children. Aside from being energetic, funny, and in
touch with youth culture, teens also have the added bonus of being cool.
It's a simple fact that in a kid's world, younger kids look up to older
kids. Most kids will be more willing to do homework with an older friend
who is also their role model, than they would be for mom or dad. They may
be more inclined to share concerns with, and ask for advice from, people
closer to them in age and day-to-day experience.
The benefits of the HSBP are two-fold. Bigs gain community
service credit, volunteer experience that looks great on resumes and
college apps and the benefit of knowing they are contributing to the
community, while a Little gains help with school, a positive role model
and a chance to have fun. National surveys and studies have shown
increases in self-confidence and improved academic and social skills for
youth who participate in after school programs with a mentor .
The HSBP is safe and well-supported by BBBSMC staff
members who are on site and available times to lend support to both Bigs
and Littles. With the success of the High School Bigs project, BBBSMC has
been able to expand this year to a second classroom, thanks to a
new BBBSMC volunteer Gay Reiman. This gives us the ability to
increase the children served by one-third.
Thank you to all of our High School Bigs, for making a
difference in Monterey County!
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 BBBSMC Chosen as Recipient of an Amazing Act of Generosity
An anonymous donor
recently designated Big Brothers Big Sisters of Monterey County to be the
recipient of all proceeds from the sale of all interior items in a home
FULL of beautiful furniture, art, electronics, clothing, etc. We
will be working with Hambrooks, Ltd. in Pacific Grove to sell these
amazing pieces at their location, 480 Lighthouse Ave., on Saturday,
October 9. Please plan to attend this auction - both silent and
live items will be available - and the proceeds from your purchases will go
to BBBSMC. We are immensely grateful for this donation, and our
donors can be certain that the proceeds will serve the children of
Monterey County directly!
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ISSUE"
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BBBSMC
Salinas Division
Rocio Lopez & Angel Garibaldo
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Salinas Office
Closes, but
Salinas Division Still Strong
For many
years BBBSMC has operated two offices - one in Monterey and one in
Salinas. Due to significant financial challenges, we recently made
the very difficult decision to close our office in Salinas. The
Monterey office had enough space to accommodate the staff from both
offices, and the Salinas location did not. But It is our intention
to re-open an office in Salinas as soon as we can afford to do so.
However, the good news is that none of the staffing levels that serve the
Salinas region have been affected! Angel Garibaldo and Rocio Lopez,
who were working out of the Salinas Office have moved their computers,
but not their focus, to Monterey. They continue to serve the
Salinas area and are in Salinas several days a week. When in
Monterey, they are able to contact their Salinas clients via phone,
email, and the website. So don't hesitate to contact them for any
needs or questions regarding the Salinas efforts of BBBSMC.
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BBBSMC is rolling out a fun new event that you will
love. We're not going with the "formal, get all dressed up,
have a meal, and buy some auction items evening" this year.
Not to say that isn't fun, too, but this year it's all about KICKBALL FOR
GROWNUPS.
16 Adult Co-ed Teams will be Kickin' It to Raise Money for
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Monterey County! Team
sign-ups will be taken first-come first-serve, based on receipt of a sign
up sheet and payment. Play will be World Cup Style,
and at 3:00 p.m. we'll have a Kickin' It Contest for the Kids. No
athletic skills required!
Saturday, October 30,
2010
Games
start at 9:30 a.m.
Toro
Park Elementary School Ball Fields
$150/Team
- 16 teams,
divided into 4 groups
- World Cup
Style Group Play - 3 Ball Fields
- Each team
plays 3 games within their group
- Top 4 teams
from group play will advance to Semi-Finals
- 10-15
players/team, min of 4 players of each sex on field at all times
- Each game
is 4 full innings or 25 minutes whichever comes first
- Players
MUST be 21 or older on October 30, 2010
Bring the
family! There will be food, contests for the kids,and plenty of
entertainment! C'mon, you know you want to play. Who can
resist kicking a big red bouncy ball?
Sponsorship Opportunities Available! Thank you to our current
Sponsors:
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Media Sponsors
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Click here for TEAM INFO
Click here for SPONSOR INFO
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 MARK YOUR
CALENDARS:
Nov 4 is "Giving Big in Style"
Another fun event
being planned by volunteers to benefit BBBSMC is a wonderful evening of
wine, food, and shopping from local home boutique vendors (such as
StellaDot, Pampered Chef, CABI, etc.). Each vendor that
participates will contribute a minimum of 15% of the evenings proceeds to
BBBSMC. The generous group at the Elks Lodge of Monterey has
donated the venue, and is working with our committee to make sure there
are plenty of snacks and fun to entertain you. There will be MUCH
more to come about this event in the upcoming weeks, but for now, put it
down on your calendar ... in pen!
Thursday,
November 4
Monterey Elks Lodge
4:30-8:00pm
To learn more or become involved, contact one of the Event
Co-Chairs below.
MICHELE MALONEY; (831) 649-8498; maloney@ci.monterey.ca.us
LINDA FERNANDEZ; (831) 869-0476; lkfamg@yahoo.com
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BIG THANKS!
We could not begin to serve
the children of our County without the financial support we receive from
Grants, Corporate Sponsors, In Kind Donors, Restaurant/Retail Partners,
and Individual Donors.
THANK
YOU TO OUR GRANTORS
California Endowment
City of Monterey
City of Salinas
Community Foundation
Harden Foundation
Nancy Buck Ransom Foundation
Packard Foundation
United Way of Monterey
County
THANK
YOU TO OUR IN-KIND DONORS
PG Computers
THANK
YOU BBBSMC BUSINESS PARTNERS
Chili's - 1349 Canyon
Del Rey, Seaside
Hula's Island Grill
& Tiki Room, 622 Lighthouse Ave., Monterey
KWAV 97FM
* Z97.9FM
* KIDD 63AM
Fashion Streaks
Bob the Printer
Planet Gemini
THANK YOU TO OUR ACTIVITY
DONORS
(Complimentary activities for
our Bigs & Littles to do together)
Pacific Repertory
Theater
Swank Farms
Oceans 18 Mini Golf
Monterey Bay Aquarium
MY Museum
Salinas Valley Bowling
Please forgive us if we've
inadvertently left someone off. We appreciate each and every
donation that we receive.
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 Donor Drive
For over 5 years, BBBSMC has not conducted an Annual
Donation Drive. We have relied on grants, events, and unsolicitated
donations to operate the agency. However we find now that in order
to be responsible to the children of Monterey County that we serve, we
must be more direct in asking our community to support our efforts.
For that reason, you will receive an email request from us in the next
week or so, specifically addressing our needs for financial contributions
in order to maintain, and perhaps grow, BBBSMC's ability to provide the
adult mentors to our at risk children. Either at this time, or when
receiving the email request, please seriously consider any level of
donation that you can make at this time. We realize that everyone
faces similar financial challenges, but we sometimes do not appreciate the
importance of a service until it is gone. We don't want that to
happen with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Monterey County, so please join
our efforts, and help keep our services available in Monterey County!
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ISSUE"
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BBBSMC PHOTO BOARD
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Central Coast Credit Union staff presents BBBSMC Salinas
Program Manager Angel Garibaldo with a check.
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Brigid Hall is the newest addition to BBBSMC. She is now
the Program Asst for the Peninsula Region. She replaces Michael
O'Connor who has moved out of the area. Brigid can be reached at
831-655-9231, and she speaks fluent Spanish.
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Rodrigo Bravo has been working for BBBSMC for the summer
as part of the Monterey Youth Employment Program. His last day
with us is Sept 16, and we will miss all of his wonderful
contributions!
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Rocio Lopez volunteering on behalf of BBBSMC at 2010 Rolex
Monterey Motorsports Reunion
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BBBSMC Prog Asst Michael O'Connor with volunteers Camille
& Steve Perez at the 2010 Moto GP
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Big Sister Michele Maloney and Exec Dir Brenda Roncarati
enjoy a great time at BBBSMC supporter HULA'S
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BBBSMC
STAFF
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Brenda
Roncarati
Executive Director
Angel
Garibaldo
Program Manager
Brigid Hall
Program Assistant
Rocio Lopez
Program Assistant
801 Lighthouse, Ste. 202
Monterey, CA 93940
(831) 655-9231
www.bbbsmonterey.org
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BBBSMC
BOARD
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Peter Baird, Chair
Phil Wilhelm, Vice Chair
Doug Lee, Treasurer
Julie Cavassa
Jim Hall
Patsy Schulte
ADVISORY BOARD
Kathleen Bauer
Barbara Canter
David Maradei
Suzanne Summers
David Steven
Donna Alonzo Vaughan
Gary Walter
Kimberly Willison
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BBBSMC is a 501(c)3 Non-Profit
Charitable Organization. We rely on donations and volunteers to
serve the children of Monterey County with one-on-one mentoring
services. Please join us in our efforts.
BBBSMC is a United Way Certified
Agency
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BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF MONTEREY
COUNTY FACTS
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Big Brothers Big Sisters of
Monterey County is the only local youth-serving agency that provides
one-to-one mentors for any child that would like one.
Children in the Big
Brothers Big Sisters program get matched with stable, consistent and
positive adults.
At least 10,000 children in
Monterey County live with only one parent - or in some cases with neither
parent, but rather another relative or a foster home.
Children with a Big Brother or
Sister are 46% less likely to start using drugs.
Children with a Big Brother or
Sister are 27% less like to drink.
Children with a Big Brother or
Sister are 52% less likely to skip school.
Children with a Big Brother or
Sister are 33% less likely to hit someone.
Big Brothers Big Sisters gives
children a chance at something other than a life of gangs, drugs, and
jail.
Big Brothers Big Sisters
provides a variety of recreational activities and educational programs
for all participants.
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