For Jennifer Miller, the success of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lanark County isn’t measured in numbers.
It’s measured one child at a time.
September is Big Brothers Big Sisters Month across Canada, giving the local organization an opportunity to celebrate mentorship and explain what can happen when a child has another dependable adult in their corner.
Miller, the executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lanark County, says the mission can be summed up simply.
Miller knows the impact personally. Long before leading the organization, she spent 10 years as a Big Sister. Her former Little Sister is now grown, working and raising three children of her own.
Miller doesn’t take credit for where her former Little Sister is today, but says having adults who can be counted on helps children develop confidence and self-esteem.
For the staff at Big Brothers Big Sisters, those relationships are what success looks like.
They even have a bell at the front desk. When another child is successfully matched, it rings.
Miller’s own journey with the organization began about 25 years ago through the late Carol Mariner, a familiar name to many in Perth. Mariner first encouraged Mille to volunteer and later urged her to apply for a newly created leadership position.
Nearly two decades of work with the organization later, Miller says the enthusiasm hasn’t worn off.
It’s the children, she says, who continue to motivate a staff working in a volunteer-driven organization that must raise the money needed to provide its programs.
And that may be the simplest explanation of what’s good about Big Brothers Big Sisters: another friendship, another match and another child knowing someone is in their corner.
