Children become Thanksgiving
Scott Herold, CEO of Rock the Cause, weighs in at Thanksgiving about his 501c3 and its mission in 2010 to raise money and consciousness for at risk children. Some of the statistics that he and Kimberly Sinclair of Big Brothers Big Sisters share with us are sobering. As we prepare to enter the warmth and fun of the Holidays, we ask that you take the time to read and understand how and why some of the most vulnerable among us demand our attention and that there are options at our disposal to help make a difference.
I love children. What happens to them is very important to me. I could flower this blog with quotes about children by Emerson, Charles Schulze, Joan Miro, Captain Kangaroo and anyone else who ever dared to see the world through the eyes of a child. At this moment, I choose to speak from my experience and from my heart. I don’t want to guilt anyone by sharing that 25,000 cases of child abuse and neglect are reported each year in Minnesota. On a national level 12,423,000 children live in poverty, four of which die daily due to abuse and neglect: Stat from Children’s Defense Fund.
We all know it’s out there. We see the “baby mamas” at Wal-Mart on Saturday. We may have even seen our own neighbors cursing obscenities at their own children.
One of my favorite songs about the subject is What’s the Matter Here? by 10,000 Maniacs. When Natalie Merchant sings “I am tired of the excuses everybody uses, he’s your kid do as you see fit. Get this through, I don’t approve of what you did to your own flesh and blood” there is an emergence of beautiful honesty.
There are two organizations for which I have a great passion. They are Free Arts Minnesota and Big Brothers Big Sisters. The process of healing, to find the bravery to say “You will not hurt me anymore” starts with something as simple as a mentor. The child needs an adult who does not judge, who has the patience and compassion to say “I am not going to let you slip through the cracks.” It could be a close friend, a teacher, a social worker or the special people who volunteer for Big Brothers and Big Sisters and Free Arts Minnesota.
Last summer I volunteered one afternoon for Free Arts Minnesota at a homeless shelter in Minneapolis. I was apalled to find that over 300 families were living in it. These families are regular Americans who have been victims of the mortgage meltdown. That afternoon with the help of donated art supplies we helped the children make pillows, a tote bag, and a journal, simple comforts for those at risk.
Free Arts Minnesota is funded by private donations. They need paint brushes and art supplies, things that do not materialize from thin air. Wink, wink , nudge, nudge.
According to the Big Brothers Big Sisters web site children who have a mentor in their lives are:
• More confident in their schoolwork performance
• Able to get along better with their families
• 46% less likely to begin using illegal drugs
• 27% less likely to begin using alcohol
• 52% less likely to skip school.
When Big Brothers and Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities (BBBS) contacted me with an urgent need to find 400 male mentors for children on the agencies waiting list I was honored. Some of the children have been waiting for over a year to meet their big brother. I met with the Rock the Cause Board of Directors and explained what we had been asked to do. With no hesitation, as a group, we decided to act quickly.
On January 29, 2010 Rock the Cause will host its 3rd annual Glitter Ball (GB3). This year we have entitled the event Big Hair Big Hearts. Our goal is to create a community united under the banner of music to raise new membership aged 21 to 40 for BBBS. This time the music is guilty pleasures from the 1980’s as performed by Alison Scott, The Melismatics, White Light Riot and The Bloodsugars to name a few.
Our night will have a “man cave” feel with free Beef Jerky, Hair Metal, Minnesota Roller Girls, Beer, and auctionable Sports Memorabilia from the Vikings and The Twins. Our goal is to get the guys to the concert and sign them up to be mentors. For the ladies we have Wine, Chocolate and free Big Hair Makeover from Jungle Red Salon, we will recognize the guys who “step up” as viable Valentines dates. We enlisted the help of Minnesota Monthly, United Way Emerging Leaders and Sacre Bleu to help get the word out.
Tickets go sale 11/28/2009 at www.irockthecause.org and they are just $15 advance and $20 GA.
To really drive the message home, I interviewed Kimberly Sinclair Vice President External Affairs Big Brothers Big Sisters, about what the agency is facing and what they need from all of us.
What critical issues are you facing in attracting new donors?
There is a misperception in the community that, because we are so large and well-known, we don’t need money. This is false! Like all non-profit organizations, we must raise every dollar we need to run our programs. Each and every year, we start again from zero and, through individuals, corporations, foundations and a small amount of government funding, we collect the donations that enable us to keep the lights on and so very much more. Unlike many non-profits, we don’t charge a fee for our services. We make and support our mentoring relationships at no cost to the families we serve, and it costs $1,300 per year to sustain one match. In 2010, we intend to serve 3,400 matches. That means we need to raise more than $4 million before September 30, 2009 (the last day of our 2010 fiscal year).
What do you need in terms of resources?
Every dollar really makes a difference and directly supports making and sustaining mentoring relationships. Here’s how donations are used:
• Each year, we serve thousands of children in Minnesota, and we provide each one with a caring volunteer mentor. Your donation helps us recruit mentors for those children waiting for a mentor.
• Because training is essential to success and safety of our mentoring relationships, your donation will help provide instructors and instructional materials during our professional training sessions provided for each of our volunteers matched to children in our program.
• Because the well being of all of the Bigs, Littles and families involved in our program is critical to our success, your donation allows us to professionally screen, interview, match, and monitor the children and their mentors in our program.
• Because we want our Littles to lead full lives, it is important to us to provide them with education and enrichment opportunities. Your donation helps support our programs and initiatives that allow them to develop new skills and make future plans by planning for higher education and seeking help with college costs.
No matter how large or small, each contribution makes a difference to the kids in our 10-county service area.
What do you need in terms of volunteers?
WE NEED MEN TO BECOME BIG BROTHERS! As of the end of October 2009, there are just over 742 children on our waiting list. Of those, 476 are boys, many of whom have been waiting for more than a year to meet their Big Brothers.
For every four inquiries we receive from a potential volunteer, only one of them comes from a man. Conversely 67% of the kids waiting for a mentor are boys. While we do use that scary word – commitment – guys need to know they will likely get as much or more out of the mentoring experience as the kid will. For instance, research done by The Commonwealth Fund found that:
• 75% of the 1,504 mentors surveyed reported that their experience had had a “very positive” effect on their lives. They felt that mentoring provided a break from their busy professional lives and a chance to give something back.
• 83% indicated that they learned or gained something personally from their mentoring experience, including feeling that they were a better person, increased patience, friendship, a feeling of effectiveness, and a chance to acquire skills.
So, while the boys don’t stop enrolling to become Little Brothers, we challenge men across the Twin Cities to hear our call and sign up to become Big Brothers. Men should ask themselves, “Do you like to play ball, hike, fish, work on your car or play video games?” Then give yourself an excuse to do these things with a Little Brother who just wants someone to spend time with … Who knows? Maybe you’ll even learn a thing or two!
Men should also realize that it takes time to go through the process. We require orientation and training, criminal and driving background checks, at least three references and an interview before being accepted as a mentor in a BBBS program. Start to finish, the process could take three months or longer. So, yes, there is a sense of urgency, but we’re also most concerned with two things: child safety and making the best possible matches, which means we ask a lot of questions about our volunteers and families to find the best possible fit between adult and child.
