Recently, Governor Phil Bredesen and our dedicated legislators in the Tennessee General Assembly passed a bill geared to enhance educational opportunities for the young people of Tennessee and as well as one called “Crooks with Guns” which is geared to make our neighborhoods safer. While these short-term actions will, no doubt, be of some help, any investments in our children that don’t also include evidenced-based prevention strategies will definitely miss a tremendous opportunity to affect real and long-term transformation in our communities.
Mentoring is one such vehicle to achieve these transformations, and our elected officials recognized that fact, albeit in a small way, when they appropriated $100,000 to support the BBBS Tennessee Amachi Initiative, a statewide effort targeting children of incarcerated parents. A much larger investment is required in the near term, however, to truly make any significant impact. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee and its sister agencies across the state will continue to educate all stakeholders to secure such a commitment. You will be hearing more about this and how you can help in the coming weeks.
Several of you have already joined the fight by finding ways to make a difference in a young person’s life. My friends, we all have time, talent, and treasure to give, but many have a tendency to search for an excuse to not take action. For those of you who have not yet chosen to get off of the sidelines and get involved, here are seven options from which to choose to now do so:
1. Sign up to be a Big Brother or Big Sister to a child. All it takes is 4 to 8 hours a month to make a huge impact on a child’s life. Many of us probably waste that much time every month on our cell phones, Blackberries, and/or standing in line at Starbucks.
2. Be personally responsible for recruiting three others to become mentors. You personally may not have the time to volunteer yourself, but you probably know others who do.
3. Facilitate our BBBSMT staff that attend and recruit at your professional or affinity group meetings.
4. Open doors for BBBSMT staff to recruit at area businesses, universities, and places of worship.
5. Apply for an open-staff position with the agency, and utilize your talent for the greater good.
6. Volunteer to serve and be active on the board or on a committee.
7. Organize a Bowl for Kids Sake event or participate in any of the many other wonderful events the agency holds throughout the year. While the services that BBBSMT offer are free to the many families we impact, paid, professional staff must do the work to support the mentoring relationships. BBBSMT must continue to attract the resources we need to grow these services.
My father and mentor Lowell W. Perry, Sr. was always fond of saying “you make a living by what you earn, but you make a life by what you give.” You don’t have to change your life, just share a little part of it to have a big impact. Now I ask you, which option will you choose?
