Story by Chris Graham
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Calling all men in Greater Augusta and Greater Lexington.
Wanted: Men to serve as role models for young boys in single-parent homes.
Skills: Nothing special required, actually. Just your time.
“You can play cards, or if you love to cook, you can teach your little how to cook. Or if you love woodworking, that’s perfect for them to learn how to do that. It’s just whatever you’re interested in, the child probably has never done that before, and they would love to learn how to do that,” said Vicki Davis, the development director at Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Central Blue Ridge, which serves the Greater Augusta and Greater Lexington areas.
The program serves children ages 6-13 in single-parent homes and in need of an adult mentor. It is hosting its annual Bowl for Kids’ Sake Bowl-A-Thon on Feb. 9 and Feb. 10 at Wayne Lanes in Waynesboro to raise money for operational expenses – but what is really needed now are adult volunteers to match up with the 27 kids currently on the waiting list.
“Some of them have been waiting a couple of years – mostly boys, just because we do not get enough men, we never have enough men to accommodate the single mom raising children. And we need men to mentor little boys so that the cycle doesn’t continue – and they have a positive impact in their life,” Davis said in an interview for today’s “Augusta Free Press Show.”
“They will stay on our waiting list until they’re 13 years old, and then they fall off. And a few of our boys – we have a few 11- and 12-year-olds, and in a couple of years, these boys are going to fall off, and we will not be able to serve them,” Davis said.
“So it’s imperative that if you want that kind of age bracket, where you can go and play basketball with them, or go to the movies, volunteer with us – because they’ll roll off of our waiting list, and we won’t be able to serve them,” Davis said.
Calling all men in Greater Augusta and Greater Lexington …
That means you.
Chris Graham is the executive editor of The Augusta Free Press.
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