Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of LA Awards 31 Scholarships to 'Littles'

LOS ANGELES (Aug. 20, 2014)—Thirty-one recipients of Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles (JBBBSLA) college scholarships were honored at an awards brunch recently at a private home in Sherman Oaks.

The capstone of the awards ceremony was the presentation of an unprecedented two “full-ride” and scholarships to Ian Fox of San Pedro, and Max Burton of La Crescenta. Fox, 20, who graduated from San Pedro High School, begins his junior year at U.C. Berkeley, where he is studying computer science. Burton, 18, who recently graduated from Crescenta Valley High School, begins his freshman year at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where he plans to pursue manufacturing engineering. The “full-ride” scholarships will underwrite the cost of tuition, room and board, and expenses for the entire college educations of Fox and Burton.

JBBBSLA also awarded a “partial-ride” scholarship to Gabbie Reade of Los Angeles. Reade, 18, who graduated from Brentwood School, will be a sophomore at Barnard College where she is studying art history. All three scholarships were donated by an anonymous local philanthropist.

The other winning students, aged 18-27 years old, will use the funds to pay their tuition at community colleges, yeshivas, four-year colleges, or graduate schools. This year’s scholarships range in value from $750 to $5,000. A total of $76,850 will be distributed, not including the full-ride awards.

“These scholarships are—quite literally—life-changing,” said Randy Schwab, CEO of JBBBSLA. “Our Little Sisters and Little Brothers typically come from underserved communities, difficult family situations, or unstable financial environments, all of which pose a significant challenge to any child’s success. This program provides hope, motivation, and the means to achieve their educational goals.”

Recognizing the need for children to have trustworthy and dependable adults in their lives, JBBBSLA provides one-on-one mentoring with paired “Littles” (children aged 6-18) and “Bigs” (screened volunteer adults). JBBBSLA has awarded more than 400 and $1.5 million in scholarships to college-bound mentees since the program’s inception in 1990. To be eligible, students need to be high school graduates enrolled full time in a post-secondary institution, and to have participated in the JBBBSLA mentoring program for at least two years.

Eligible mentees are invited to submit an application with two personal essays. Submissions are reviewed by a scholarship committee composed of JBBBSLA board members and the CEO, past scholarship recipients, and JBBBSLA staff. The committee also examines each applicant’s service to the community and to JBBBSLA, financial need, and academic performance and potential. Most applicants apply multiple years. The recipients of the 2014 full ride scholarships were selected by an anonymous donor from the same pool of applicants.

“The application review process is lengthy, as we also do face-to-face interviews and solicit input from each Little’s mentoring specialist and Big Brother or Big Sister,” said Schwab. “All of our applicants are smart, motivated young people who have overcome adversity and have big dreams. The stories of their personal experiences as Littles are profoundly moving and inspiring.”

A sampling of excerpts from personal essays submitted for consideration in 2014:

o “My teenage years were a tremendous struggle. Without my Big, I would have had no place to vent; no mentor to help me discover what it means to be who I am, where I am, as I am; no full understanding of what it means to be successful; and, most importantly, no real notion of what it means to be Jewish….I would be a very different person—probably a worse person—if I did not have my Big as my mentor.”

o “I can say without a doubt in my mind that my Big Brother has changed my life for the better and I am forever thankful to the program that put us together.”

o “[My Big] taught me that higher education was something I needed to seriously consider….Without [him], I would be a high school dropout with no motivation to live out [my] dreams. I owe JBBBSLA my entire life.”

A full listing of JBBBSLA scholarship winners can be found on the Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles website, at www.jbbbsla.org/programs/scholarships/

About Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles (JBBBSLA)
Celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2015, JBBBSLA has a proud legacy of providing hope, support, and friendship to Jewish youth facing personal adversity and Jewish adults with special needs. Recognizing the need for children to have trustworthy and dependable adults in their lives, JBBBSLA provides one-on-one mentoring with paired “Littles” (children aged 6-18) and “Bigs” (screened volunteer adults); group mentoring, community-based and site-based mentoring; and innovative outreach programs for Israeli, Persian, bereaved, LGBT, and special needs families. JBBBSLA also offers summer camp for children aged 7-15 and college scholarships for program alumni. Every year, JBBBSLA helps hundreds of Jewish youth fulfill their potential through life-changing programs that facilitate mutually rewarding mentor relationships and support personal development. For more information about how JBBBSLA is “Changing our community, Little by Little,” please visit www.jbbbsla.org.