Be a Champion to a Child | Big Brothers Big Sisters

Written By: Danielle Hernandez-Juarez | Issue: Winter 2022

Little Brother Alex takes down the pinata at the 2021 Field Day event in June as onlooking Littles cheer him on!

Little Sister Kira and Big Sister Karla Magana-Almanza at the 2021 Highlands Christmas parade with the llamas of Llama Caddy

The holidays and the New Year afford us all so many possibilities for change, improvement and reflection.  It’s a time for family, friends and community to come together and learn and grow from one another. 

One of the goals of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cashiers and Highlands is to ensure we are taking an active role in reaching an integral part of our community that is often underrepresented – our neighbors and friends, the Latinx community.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of WNC is a Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion-focused youth empowerment organization offering one-to-one mentoring services to youth in our communities through supportive services. 

BBBS carefully selects and matches mentors with children and teens facing adversity and provides supportive activities, training, and supportive services to ensure healthy, long-lasting connections.  

We are about the relationships that impact the lives of children and we know it works! We see it every day and we hear about the long-lasting impacts mentors have in the lives of youth and their families across our region, including right here in Cashiers and Highlands. 

Several mentors, and even parents of Littles, are former Littles themselves – what a tremendous honor it is to engage with Littles in this new way!  

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cashiers and Highlands works closely with various community members to ensure we are reaching everyone and providing opportunities for children across varying cultures right here on the Plateau.

It’s important to bridge these cultural gaps by learning about each other’s cultures.  BBBS of Cashiers and Highlands regularly incorporates aspects of both American and Latinx cultures in our activities together, as well as resources provided to mentors for possible outing experiences and information comes available.    

For example, this year alone, our council member Faviola Olvera and her Big Sister Karla have come together to develop an educational video on the holiday Three Kings Day, which included information about the holiday itself, as well as a portion on how to make a hearty, and fruity, drink called ponche (pone-chay) and some spiced cookies called polvorones (poll-vo-rone-ays). The excitement continued throughout the year with opportunities to engage with learning about El Dia de los Muertos, and interacting with a pinata.  The coming year is sure to offer even more opportunities for inclusion and collaboration across the community!

If you’re looking for a way to give back to your community and are seeking to be a Champion to a child, please reach out to me, Danielle Hernandez, at (828) 399-9133, or by email at [email protected]. To learn more about the impacts of mentoring through our program visit bbbswnc.org.