The Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance, or "Stand By Me", as the program is commonly called, began in 1996 when current director Kathy Witkowicki was put in charge of some grant money at her children's school, Flowery Elementary. Fourteen years later, the program no longer runs out of an elementary school closet, but has a large office suite, a team of employees and mentor liasons in place at all of the area elementary schools.
"Stand By Me" seeks to place at-risk elementary school children with local mentors who develop relationships and spend quality time with the kids. Mentors are placed through a thorough screening process and are asked to make a commitment of several years (many mentors form lifelong relationships with their mentees).
According to the "Stand By Me" brochure, "a child with a mentor is 98 percent more likely to stay in school." The program also organizes events, classes, an annual barbecue and career seminars throughout the year. "Stand By Me" is always looking for new mentors and people who would like to support the program financially.
As part of the nation's largest donor and volunteer supported mentoring network, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area provides meaningful, monitored, one-to-one matches between adult volunteers ("Bigs") and enrolled children ("Littles"). For more than 100 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters has operated under the belief that inherent in every child is the ability to succeed and thrive in life. Most children served by Big Brothers Big Sisters are in single parent, low income families or households and independent studies prove that mentoring can make a positive difference to help these children reach their potential. Find out how you can positively impact a child's life by donating and/or volunteering; visit www.bbbsba.org to learn more.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ozaukee County is based in Grafton and provides the youth between the ages of 5 and 15 with an opportunity to develop a special friendship with a caring adult.
The ‘new friends’ spend an average of three hours together two to three times per month exploring interests, sharing stories, and enjoying the experience of being together.
