President Jim is catching his stride hosting the weekly meetings.

George stated the obvious, that Johnny "Walker" Jonas is hobbling after his knee operation.

Gary was appreciating the amateur women's golf tourney, and is also presenting soon at the U.N.  Congratulations Gary!
Jim J bought a building even though Sheila didn't want him to.  He also reminded everyone to wear their name tag each week so you get your meal!
Matt was in New Orleans which was too hot.  He also took a tour of the Baltic Sea (Sweden, Finland, Latvia, etc.) which was just right.

Chris Ainsworth led off Membership Minute, the new program feature where members get up and tell us in 60 seconds or less what they are all about.

Chris is the Development Manager for Drayton Entertainment, responsible for sales, marketing, and fundraising.  DE does 30 productions a year, which keeps Chris busy enough, but he's also married with two young daughters, Hadley and Harper, ages 4 and 6.  For recreation, Chris likes fishing, boating and golfing.  He didn't mention whether he likes theatre.

Jokester Needed!!!  Talk to Pres. Jim.

Linda introduced Mallory Boyer, the Resource Development Manager for Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Waterloo Region.

Big Brothers/Big Sisters is best known for their mentorship program for at-risk kids in single parent families, but Mallory told us of several other programs that they run.

 

Some stats that show the benefits to mentored kids:

20% higher high school graduation rate than the national average

15% more likely to volunteer

90% happy and confident

88% show improved literacy from having a mentor

 

Unfortunately there are currently 342 kids on the waiting list, and boys generally wait 2 years to get a big brother.

Mallory spoke about their challenges, which include sustainable funding (all of their funding is local; no government support), meeting the demand for their services, and volunteer recruitment (particularly men).

You can help in a number of ways...by volunteering, donating online, participating in their fundraisers, or advocating for them.

We tend to forget about Big Brothers Big Sisters, but they have been in the region for 50 years and done valuable work for thousands of local children.  Like Kidsability, they are an organization that deserves our support.

 

Check out Mallory's presentation here or get more info from their website here.