Mission Statement

The grant received from The Dana Brown Charitable Trust was leveraged to support Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri and their Centennial Plan. The focus of this plan was to increase agency capacity, thus increasing the number of volunteer mentors AND the endurance of their mentoring relationships. By supporting the expansion outlined in the Centennial Plan, The Dana Brown Charitable Trust also helped Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri:

• Surround children with caring and supportive role models
• Celebrate successes in home and school
• Introduce young people to new experiences
• Give them hope of a promising future
• Encourage open communication among the 4:1+1® partners
• Create new community partnerships

Impact

Together, Big Brothers Big Sisters Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri and The Dana Brown Charitable Trust were able to influence the following positive changes in our community:

• Over 1,106 new volunteers applied to become a Big Brother or Big Sister
• The screening, training and matching 527 new volunteer mentors
• 80% of mentoring relationships were matched for 12 months or longer!

Plus the statistical impact that Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri has on the lives of Littles:

• 46% less likely to begin using drugs
• 27% less likely to begin using alcohol
• 52% less likely to skip school
• 33% less likely to hit someone
• 75% were more likely to have received a four-year college degree
• 39% were more likely to have a current household income of $75,000 or higher
• 62% perceived themselves to have achieved a higher level of success than their peers who were not involved in Big Brothers Big Sisters