Volunteers needed, as locals kids spend months on waitlist for mentoring program

Thousands of children across the country are in need of a mentor.

Locally, there could be more than 100 says the local Big Brothers Big Sisters chapter.

“We’re always in need of volunteers,” said community mentoring co-ordinator Jill Forsythe. “Right now, our stats across Canada show that we have over 4,000 children on wait lists around the country. They did a study and it showed that mentoring is dropping around the country as well. Less people are volunteering around the country, and they’re giving less time — so it’s not just Medicine Hat that’s suffering, it’s everywhere.”

A generational shift and changing demographics means fewer people are donating their time to organizations like BBBS, said Forsythe.

So the organization is learning how to attract more volunteers to the programs, she said.

The local BBBS chapter has two programs: An in-school program that requires one hour each week, and a community program, which requires a mentor to give two to four hours a week.

Big brother Joey Sabourin has been volunteering for nearly two years, and says the program is something he wanted to give time to for a while.

“It was on my radar for a bit,” said Sabourin. “It always seemed to be on my resolution list for a while, and a couple years ago I was able to fit it with my work schedule, so I decided to jump on board with Big Brothers Big Sisters.”

The 34-year-old says the experience has been exactly what he was looking for when he signed up.

“It’s been great,” he said. “Being that positive role model in somebody’s life is really meaningful for me. Doing things like playing video games and going to hockey games, you really feel like a kid again. It’s been a really positive experience for me so far.”

Sabourin says he has taken a lot of positives from being a mentor, and has no plans of stopping.

Forsythe added that kids locally can spend months on waiting lists and people who wish to become a volunteer should visit www.medicinehat.bigbrothersbigsisters.ca.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Joey Sabourin and his mentee Kaige Rudichuk take a selfie at a Medicine Hat Tigers game at the Canalta Centre. There are currently numerous children in Medicine Hat looking for a Big Brother or Big Sister, but a lack of volunteers has left them without...