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Big Brother program in need of volunteers
BBS of Coastal Empire short on male mentors in Bryan County
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There are plenty of people willing to pitch in and help Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Coastal Empire. There’s a shortage of help, nonetheless.

Big Brothers, it seems, are becoming scarce.

"Right now I have 85 women who are waiting to be processed as volunteers," said John Kendricks, the executive director of the BBBS of the Coastal Empire. "There’s not one man on that list."

The absence of male mentors has left the group facing a dilemma as it seeks to provide positive role models for kids ages 9-16.

In Bryan County, the dearth of male role models willing to sign up as big brothers led to an email blast from Bryan County Drug Free director William Collins.

He forwarded a message from juvenile probation officer Tulea Benjamin asking for male mentors because the program can currently only serve girls in Bryan County.

The lack of male volunteers isn’t new, Kendricks said.

"We always seem to have a shortage of men," he said. "And most of the kids who come in to our program are boys. It’s sort of strange. We have a waiting list of female volunteers who want little sisters and we don’t have a lot of little sisters to provide them. But we have a waiting list of boys looking for big brothers and we don’t have enough big brothers to provide them."

Read full story in June 5 issue of the Bryan County News.

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