Big Brothers Big Sisters Receives $25,000 from Berger Foundation

From Berger Foundation: Now in its 21st year of providing valuable one-to-one mentoring, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Desert is the first recipient of 2019 to receive a Coachella Valley Spotlight grant from the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation and News Channel 3.

“Being a recipient of the Coachella Valley Spotlight not only provides funding needed to make and support Big/Little matches, but it also gives us much needed exposure to help show and tell more people the successes of our programs,” said Judy Tobin May, Executive Director of BBBSD. “We are grateful to have been selected for this prestigious award.”

The $25,000 Coachella Valley Spotlight grant will help recruit more mentors and support the pairing of Big Brothers and Big Sisters with Littles, as they are called. The organization is looking for about 50 mentors for Coachella Valley children, ages 6-18, who are on a waiting list for matches. BBBSD currently has about 300 area children matched with mentors in two distinct programs: Community-Based Mentoring and Site-Based Mentoring. Since 1997, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Desert has made nearly 9,000 Big/Little matches. On average, it cost $1,000-$1,500 a year to make and support a new match, depending on the unique family situation.

“We are happy to support Big Brothers Big Sisters and its programs. It’s vision offers young people with guidance and support to reach their full potential,” said Catharine Reed, Program Director for the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation.

BBBSD is the only youth program in the Coachella Valley that provides one-to-one mentoring to kids facing adversity such as having one or both parents incarcerated, living in low-income households, doing poorly in school, dropping out, getting involved with drugs and alcohol, and gang violence. The BBBSD programs are free and available to kids that meet the program guidelines and requirements.

“Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Desert is part of a national organzation that has a century old, proven approach to positvely impacting the lives of children,” said Jerry Upham, General Manager of Gulf California Broadcast Company, which owns and operates KESQ News Channel 3 and KPSP CBS Local 2. “We hope the Coachella Valley Spotlight media exposure helps make more matches in our valley.”

The Coachella Valley Spotlight partnership includes featuring each organization on News Channel 3 programming including “Eye on the Desert” (which airs on CBS Local 2 weeknights at 6:30 p.m.), in public service announcements and on kesq.com.

Image via Berger Foundation