Match Flash School Based Summer 2012

Match Flash School based header

June 2012

Donate

Enjoy your Summer!

It is almost time for summer and that means its almost time for school to be let out! This is our second School Based Match Flash for this year and we hope that you will enjoy the tips and treats that we have for the summer. Since school is out for the summer, you and your Little will not be able to meet but if your Little's parent or guardian has approved summer communication, don't forget to keep in contact via phone calls, texting, e-mails, and even letters - being pen pals can be so fun!

Corporate Partner Spotlight

Tampa Bay Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays recently hosted a suite for our School Based Campbell Park Littles and their Bigs. Welcoming even those Bigs that aren't Rays employees, our matches enjoyed a full day of fun at the ballpark. Tropicana Field was an experience in and of itself for these Littles and Raymond himself even stopped by for a visit! From hotdogs, popcorn, and soda to baseball, Carvel, and "Play Ball!" these kids had a blast. This is a memory they'll hold on to for a lifetime. Thank you RAYS!!

Agency Events

Register Today!

Companies for Kids Golf Invitational

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Shotgun Start-1:00PM
Innisbrook Golf & Country Club
Copperhead & Island Courses
Palm Harbor, FL 34683

36750 US Highway 19 N

Join Big Brothers Big Sisters on October 2, 2012 for the inaugural Companies for Kids Invitational Golf Classic! Please come out and support the mission of Big Brothers Big Sisters, encouraging children's potential through one-to-one relationships that change their lives for the better, forever. The vision of the Companies for Kids Invitational event is to form corporate alliances with Big Brothers Big Sisters and the local business community. Together, we host an elite corporate event focused on raising significant funds for children facing adversity in our community.

Online registration is now open! Please click here to register. For the sponsor sheet, click here.

For more information on how you can participate as a sponsor or player, please contact Emalou Dublo at 727-518-8860 ext. 232 or [email protected]

2nd Annual Sudsy Saturday Car Wash - Charity of Choice Event

Saturday, June 2nd, 2012

1:00pm-5:00pm

Bluffs Animal Hospital

320 Indian Rocks Road N.

Belleair Bluffs, FL 33770

This Saturday, Bluffs Animal Hospital will host the 2nd annual Sudsy Saturday Car Wash to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Pinellas County! A suggested donation of $5 will be accepted for a car wash and drinks and snacks will be available for a donation as well. Dawgs on the Go will also be selling doggie bags and donating $5 from each sale for the cause. Music for the event will be provided by crew members from WKID Radio 96.7FM of Clearwater, the only radio station in the world that is owned and operated entirely by kids.

Volunteers are needed! Have fun while raising funds and awareness for the organization we all love. We are looking for Bigs to help wash cars, sell lemonade and snacks, as well as tell patrons about being part of the BBBS program. Last year, this event helped raise more than $800!

If you would like to volunteer, please email Big Brother, Doug Spiker: [email protected]

The Big Celebration
Friday, April 27th at the Mahaffey Theater

Thank you to everyone who attended the Big Celebration and helped us celebrate our 45th anniversary! Nearly 700 Bigs, Littles and agency supporters took part in this memorable evening!

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the companies and individuals who so graciously donated their product, funds, time and talents to make this year's event so successful:

Funding provided by Progress Energy and the Gagnon Foundation
Dinner and ice cream bar by Outback Steakhouse
Soft drinks by Pepsi
Graphic Design by Tom Cawthon, Bryan Schrag and the creative team at Valpak
Lifetime Achievement Award video by Tom Cawthon
Caricature artists who donated their time: Rich Brown, Angel Morales, Dan Smith, AJ Miller and Brenda Lamb
Volunteers for the event: Regina Bennett, John Skiratko, Michael Lundberg, Danielle Mathena, Donna Lancaster, Jane Makhlouf, Rosa Deharo, Ann Zavaglia, Bob Chiavacci, Debby Battista, Mike Battista, Kimberly Connor, Leah Collins, Channing Finlayson, Mark Talley, Pilar Montague, Lucky Patel
Colleen Parisi, Pha Leven, Stephanie Bay, Jessica Carson, Chris Seney

To view our online photo album, click here.

To view the fantastic photos from the photo booth and/or re-order prints:

Go to: www.GetThePictureFL.com
Click the "Sign In" button on the left
Enter your Username and Password:
Click on the "Submit" button

Thank you again to all who helped sponsor this event and all who celebrated with us!

Listen up, Big Brothers Big Sisters is on the Radio!

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Pinellas County will now be on the radio! Tune in to Inspiration AM 1110 on Tuesdays from 6:45-7:00pm to hear stories from children waiting to be matched, "Bigs and Littles", families of our "Littles", as well as our staff. We are very excited for this opportunity to gain a wider audience, so that everyone has the chance to Start Something Big. If you would like to be a guest on the show to talk about how being a Big has changed you or your Littles' life, please contact Christa Setzer at [email protected]or 727-518-8860 ext. 227.

Thank You for Participating in our Research Study with the University of Tampa Students!

Big Brothers Big Sisters serving Pinellas, Hernando and Citrus Counties recently partnered with a team of graduate MBA students from the University of Tampa to continue our pursuit of enhancing your volunteer experience. First, 25 of our Bigs participated in focus groups and in-depth interviews to help develop a survey for all of our Bigs. We are very excited to report that 408 Bigs responded to the email survey! Stay tuned for more to come on the results of this project.

Recruitment News

The 2nd Annual 100 Men in 100 Days Campaign is Here!
June 1st-September 8th, 2012

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Pinellas County announces the start of the "100 Men in 100 Days" campaign! This is part of our efforts to recruit more male volunteers to serve as Big Brothers.

There are hundreds of boys waiting for mentors in Pinellas county alone! Men can become a Big Brother or 1/2 of a Big Couple in the Community Based Program, or a become a School-Based Big Brother. We also have a "Sports Buddies" program, where men can spend two outings a month enjoying or participating in a sport. Tickets are charitably donated or provided at a reduced rate by our generous Sports Buddies partners.

Here is how you can help...

Spread the word by reaching out to your friends, family and coworkers - talk about your experiences as a Big with everyone who will listen!
Forward our emails to your contacts.
Be active on our Facebook page by liking and commenting on our posts, and by sharing our posts on your page.

Click here to read more about the need for men on our website
Click here to learn more about Sports Buddies

Click here to visit our Facebook page - be sure to "Like Us"

Children Hoping for a School Based Big Brother or Big Sister

The list below reflects the number of children who were not able to be matched this school year. We currently have a total of 58 children hoping for a School Based Big.

Belleair Elementary School - Clearwater: 1 girl, 6 boys

Belleair YMCA- Clearwater: 2 boys

Campbell Park Elementary School - St. Pete: 2 girls, 15 boys

Cypress Woods YMCA- Palm Harbor: 1 girl

High Point Elementary School - Clearwater: 3 boys, 9 girls

John Hopkins Middle School - St. Pete: 2 girls, 1 boy

Lakewood Elemantary- 2 boys

Ozona YMCA- Palm Harbor: 1 boy

Sandy Lane Elementary School - Clearwater: 4 girls, 1 boy

Sunset Hills Elementary School - Tarpon Springs: 1 boy

Sunset Hills YMCA - Tarpon Springs: 2 girls, 3 boy

Thurgood Marshall Fundamental Middle School - St. Petersburg: 2 girls

The School Based program is ideal for someone who needs a consistent schedule to meet with their Little Brother/Sister and has time during the day. Volunteers meet with a child at their elementary or middle school for one hour per week. Some of our School Based Bigs choose this program because they want to invest their lunch break one day a week, or they have kids at home but they still want to get involved.

Children Hoping for a Community Based Big Brother or Big Sister

The following list shows the number of children who are hoping to be matched in the Pinellas Community Based program. There are currently 84 girls and 174 boys who are ready to be matched with a Big Brother or Big Sister. That is a total of 258 children!

Clearwater: 6 girls, 27 boys

Dunedin: 2 girls, 9 boys

Largo: 13 girls, 32 boys

Oldsmar: 2 girls, 2 boys

Palm Harbor: 5 boys

Pinellas Park: 3 girls, 9 boys

St. Petersburg: 56 girls, 77 boys

Seminole: 2 girls, 9 boys

Tarpon Springs: 4 boys

The Community Based program is ideal for someone who has more free time during weekends and evenings and prefers a flexible schedule. Volunteers take the child on 2 outings per month for 2-4 hours, at times that are convenient for both the Big and the Little.

Do you have friends or colleagues who are interested in getting involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters? If you would like to host a recruitment drive or lunch and learn at your office, place of worship, networking group or social club, please contact Christa at [email protected] or 727-518-8860 x227.

Summer School Based Match Meetings

This summer, our School Based team will be matching new and qualified Bigs with their School Based Littles at specific coordinated BBBS School Based Summer Match Meetings! If you have a friend who is interested in getting involved as a School Based Big, there is no need to wait until September! They can meet their Little over the summer at one of our 7 scheduled BBBS Match Meetings. Tell them what an impact you have made on your Little, and have them call us today to get started: 727-518-8660, ext. 227.

Reaching BIG Potential Lunches

Do you know someone who wants to learn more about Big Brothers Big Sisters or get involved? Consider inviting them to attend one of our Reaching BIG Potential Events. This free, one-hour informational session will provide you with an inside look at what Big Brothers Big Sisters achieves in our community.

Thursday, June 21st - Big Brothers Big Sisters Office: 918 West Bay Drive, Largo
Thursday, July 26th - SPC Allstate Center, Conference Room 110: 3200 34th Street South, St. Petersburg

Please RSVP to Tirrah Switzer at [email protected] or 727-518-8860 x252.

Office Volunteers

Our agency is in need of several office volunteers, which include the following:

Statistician Volunteer
Information Technology Volunteer
Volunteer Receptionist
Volunteer Clerical Assistant

Please click here to visit our website and view descriptions for each position.

Become a BIG Partner with BBBS!

Make BBBS Your Charity of Choice!

Are you involved with an organization who is planning an event or fundraiser? Do you have, or know of a business who would like to give back to the community? Big Brothers Big Sisters serving Pinellas, Hernando and Citrus Counties is looking for local organizations to participate in our Charity of Choice program!

A couple of ideas on how to become a Charity of Choice partner would be to have a special day at your place of business where a % of the proceeds benefit our agency, or to hold a special event for a group, where part of the the entry fees or food and beverage sales benefit our local children served by Big Brothers Big Sisters.

To participate, all event planning would be the sole responsibility of the organization that chooses us as their Charity of Choice. Due to a very limited staff, our agency cannot participate in actual event planning, but could potentially send a representative on the day of the event. To help promote the event, our agency would be happy to communicate details of your event to our constituents through email newsletters and social media, as appropriate.

Big Perks

Thanks to our supportive community partners, we are able to offer our Bigs and Littles great discounts for local businesses and activities. This is a great way for our Littles to experience activities that they would normally not be able to do. We need your help to expand our offerings! To view a complete list of our Big Perks, visit: www.bbbspc.org/bigperks

If you have a Charity of Choice idea or suggestion or would like to offer our matches a Big Perk, please contact Christine Battista, Marketing & Communications Coordinator: 727-518-8860 ext 231, or

[email protected]

BIG Info

Helpful information, dates and advice for Bigs.

Frequently Asked Question

Q: Can I communicate with my Little over summer break?

A: Yes, if your Little's parent or guardian has approved summer communication. Ask your Match Manager how you can contact your Little between June-August! Remember, no in person contact while school's out!

Pinellas County School Calendar

http://www.pcsb.org/Calendar

Thursday, June 7: Last day for students. Second semester ends. Early release for students.

Monday, August 20: All schools open. All Pre-k and postsecondary schools' classes begin.

Monday, September 3: Labor Day Holiday - schools closed for staff and students

Friday, September 14 : School-based Professional Development Day - schools closed for students

Report Card Schedule

Elementary School:

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Middle and High Schools:

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Summer Reading

Reading together with your Little is a great idea in the summer. You and your Little can read the same book, or even different ones, and then discuss what you both learned from what you read via the phone or writing letters.

Below are some great books to help keep you inspired in your work as a mentor over the summer:

Because You Believed in Me: Mentors and Proteges Who Shaped our World by Marcia McMullen and Patricia M. Miller. Because You Believed in Me uses stories of real people-such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Claude Monet and Eugene Boudin, Ulysses S. Grant and Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr. and Benjamin Elijah Mays-to capture the elusive qualities and proven benefits of mentoring relationships. The value of mentoring, tested by time, becomes apparent in their stories. What if Eugene Boudin hadn't encouraged Claude Monet to paint the outdoors? Would someone else have inspired another person with similar talent to abandon studio painting and venture into the beauty of landscapes? Mentors expand boundaries and open worlds of possibilities. Even brilliant people need heroes. The emulation of another can be a catalyst for self-discovery. A mentor's example, along with questions and shared experiences, helps proteges clarify their paths, crystallize their values, and experience the freedom to explore unimagined vistas. Designed to inspire and uplift, Because You Believed in Me highlights the spirit of mutual generosity in the mentor-protege relationship. This wonderful collection is an invitation to reach out, renew, and remember the powerful influences of unique individuals. ISBN:978-0740727122

Mentoring Millennials: Shaping the Next Generation by Daniel Egeler. Leave a legacy with a generation longing for connection and meaning. The Millennial generation is unlike any other. Born after 1980, they don't know the world before computers, video games, or MTV. They are optimistic, desire rules and boundaries, and support tradition and values. A passionate group, they long to commit to a cause. However, they cannot make it alone. They need guidance and direction from people who care. They need to hear your stories--successes and failures. Do you have a story to tell? Are you willing to risk being vulnerable by sharing some of your most poignant life experiences with the next generation? Through inspiring anecdotes and researched advice, Dr. Daniel Egeler explains how mentoring is at the same time powerful and subtle. After all, even some of the simplest acts of kindness can leave an indelible mark on the life of another. Mentoring Millennials provides a framework to help older generations reach out to and teach what the author believes could be the next "hero generation." "A commitment to mentoring relationships would be a profoundly wise investment of one's talents on behalf of the Master," says the author. Will you use your talents wisely? Will you leave your stories and expertise with those who will lead in the future? ISBN: 978-1576833827

Power Mentoring: How Successful Mentors and Proteges Get the Most Out of Their Relationships by Ellen A. Ensher.

Written to reflect the realities of today's business environment, Power Mentoring is a nuts-and-bolts guide for anyone who wants to create a connection with a prot�g� or mentor, or to improve a current mentoring relationship. Filled with illustrative examples and candid insights from fifty of America's most successful mentors and prot�g�s, Power Mentoring unlocks the secrets of great mentoring relationships and shows how anyone (including those who are well established in their careers, or those who are just starting out) can become a successful mentor or prot�g�. Based on compelling interviews from Ellen Ensher and Susan Murphy's own research, this important resource explains what it takes to develop a "power mentoring" network consisting of a variety of mentors across a range of organizations and industries. The authors provide strategies for establishing such power mentoring relationships, outline the best practices, and offer insights from mentors and prot�g�s in a variety of fields including technology, politics, and the media. ISBN:978-0787979522

Match Anniversaries

1 Year

May: Thomas Ufer & Kyle ● Kim Gilbert & Alonzo ● Victoria Tims & Laura ● Angelique & Tabitha ● Ashley Batson & Devon

June: Rachel Sharp & Tatum

In This Issue

Corporate Partner Spotlight

Companies for Kids Golf

The Big Celebration

100 Men in 100 Days Campaign

Children Hoping for a Big

BIG Potential Events

Charity of Choice Events