Are You Thinking Arby’s?

Arby’s Community Fundraiser  The 2010 Arby’s National Community Fundraiser has begun and runs through Sunday, June 13!

How can you help? It’s easy! Give $1, Get $1.

When you give $1 you will receive a pinup you can sign and hang in the restaurant to show your support and get a $1 coupon off a Roast Beef or Beef ‘n Cheddar Combo for your next visit. What a great deal!

Number of bowlers:  443 bowlers

Number of teams:  111 teams

Names of sponsors: 

Title Sponsor:  Fifth Third Bank

Frame Sponsors:  Toyota, Old National Bank, PC Quest, Lefler Collision & Glass, Harding Shymanski, and Kohl’s

Head Pin Sponsors:  BKD, AmeriStamp Sign-A-Rama, RPD, Schulteis Insurance, West Side Nut Club, Vectren, Bud’s Harley Davidson and American Eagle

King Pin Sponsors:  Crawford Door and Dock, Custom Mechanical Construction, Inc., Heritage Petroleum, Integra Bank, Escalade Sports, Kahn, Dees, Donovan & Kahn, Raben Tire, Robinson Engineering & Oil Co., Vowells and Schaaf, Rudolph, Fine, Porter, & Johnson, Bootz Industries, Price & Associates, AlphaGraphics, ProgressiveHealth Rehabilitation, and Warehouse Services, Inc.

Names of companies with the number of teams that participated:  Old National Bank – over $5500 raised, Vectren – over $4500 raised, Integra Bank – over $2500 raised

The highest amount raised by an individual bowler:  Brant Kennedy – $1,930, Jean Barr – $1,095

Names of the prize winners:  Table Tennis Table from Escalade Sports – Lisa Havren (Toyota), Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari passes – Tammie Bivens (ONB)

If you would like to help us celebrate our birthday in a special way, please make a donation in honor of our 40th birthday . It is a really easy way to show your support for our agency and will help us to continue to make strong matches between Big Brothers and Sisters and Little Brothers and Sisters!

When you donate online to Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ohio Valley, you directly support children in your community.

Donating will help to:

• Help recruit new Big Brother and Big Sister volunteers
• Cover the costs of background checks and insurance, while ensuring trained professionals match children to caring and responsible Bigs
• Offer one-on-one, ongoing supervision and support for every match
• Provide cultural and social activities to enrich the opportunities for children

Ahmeisha and her two younger sisters were placed on our waiting list in 2005.  These sisters, along with many other children in our community, really needed one-to-one time with a mentor as a result of being in a single-parent household.  Their mother, Stacey, came to us with a need, and we were able to provide her children with positive adult role models. 

Lisa has been involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies from across the state of Indiana since she was
in middle school herself.  She has always known the importance of giving back to one’s community.  Every year since she’s been matched with Ahmeisha, Lisa has made sure that Ahmeisha understands the importance of giving back to the community by having a team in Bowl For Kids Sake every year.  It was in middle school that Lisa first got involved with BFKS in Lafayette, Indiana. 

Without a program like Big Brothers Big Sisters, Lisa would not have been able to make this positive impact on Ahmeisha as she has so gracefully proven to do.  We here at Big Brothers Big Sisters are all ever so grateful to all of our volunteers for the time and commitment that they have given to these special young people, and hope that we can continue to serve more local children who need such positive influences in their lives like Lisa.

Joe has been living with his parental Grandmother almost his entire life and was the child of an incarcerated father.  He was definitely a great candidate for our program.  The only problem we had with matching him was his location (Princeton – we don’t have very many volunteers there.)  After a month on the waiting list, we came across Dan’s file.  (He’s from Princeton!)  We didn’t want to match them just based on location alone, but when we looked at their interests they were a perfect match! 

Dan and Joe have become like family: having dinner together, going to fairs, paintballing, 4-wheeling, swimming, and spending holidays together.  Joe’s father was released from prison earlier this spring.  He was very supportive of Dan’s relationship with Joe. 

In June there was a terrible car accident involving Joe’s father; he didn’t survive.  Dan called to let us know.  Joe has been able to lean on Dan during this rough transition in his life.  This relationship between Big and Little is unique and very powerful. 

We are so pleased that we were able to help Joe find Dan.  Dan has been such a positive influence on Joe and his family.  We are grateful for Dan’s dedication and individual attention that he gives to Joe.

As the children of an incarcerated parent, they needed guidance and care more than most children their age.  When their mother signed them up for the program, she described Dylan as a very angry 8-year-old.  Shy Leah was very timid and didn’t socialize well.  As a mother, she was worried about her children, but knew that she needed help. 

Jane and Dan Hayden have not only been Shy Leah and Dylan’s Bigs, but so much more.  In Shy Leah’s words, “They’ve changed our lives.  We couldn’t see ever having the opportunity to leave the county, much less the state.  The Hayden’s have taken us to our Nation’s capital, the Washington Monument, and Disney World just to name a few.  What kid doesn’t dream of going to Disney?  Dylan and I knew that our dream was just a dream, until the Hayden’s made it come true.”

When given the award, Jane responded, “We are so blessed to have Shy, Dylan and their mother in our lives.  We did not begin this journey to win anything but the love and respect of two struggling children (which has been returned 10-fold.)  We are truly humbled by this honor.  We are so lucky to be a small part of this wonderful organization and will continue to do all we can to be involved.  Thank you.  Fondly, Jane & Dan”Thank you Jane and Dan from Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ohio Valley.

Course: Helfrich Hills Golf Club
Time: 12pm / Noon Shotgun Start

The format is a four-person modified scramble, and awards will be given for the low gross team, longest drive, closest to the pin, Hole in One, and more. The golf classic is open to individuals and teams all are welcome!

Visit http://www.rira.7.golfreg.com/ to sign up today!

It’s a system they worked out because the Melendez family doesn’t have a phone. Of course, they can’t change plans suddenly, but that’s just as well. Many young people who need mentoring crave consistency and steady, positive relationships with adults who won’t let them down — which is just the kind of friendship Crystal has provided for the last three years.

Mentoring Helps Make the Grade … and the Girl.

Ariana was going through a tough time three years ago. She was getting into fistfights. Her grades were Ds and Fs. Her mother has a number of smaller children and couldn’t always give Ariana the one-on-one time she really needed. She believed that a Big Sister could make a difference for her daughter. She was right!

Within just a few weeks of meeting Crystal the fighting stopped and Ariana’s grades improved dramatically. Today, each time her name is called out on the honor roll, she feels proud and confident in a way she never did before. “She is a much more positive person now,” says Crystal.

Mentoring is a Real “Family Affair.”

What starts as a friendship often ends up feeling like a member of the family. That’s certainly true for Crystal, who has invited Ariana to many of her family functions. And the influence has rubbed off on others — Crystal reports that two of her sisters, as well as her brother-in-law, have all become “Bigs” because of the example she set. “They have seen first-hand how being Big Sister and Little Sister have helped Ariana and me to become better people.”

Would you like to read more real life stories?