By rounding up at the cash register in the Campbellsport Piggly Wiggly from Sept. 8 to Sept. 14, the community raised $775 for the Fond du Lac County Big Brothers Big Sisters.
With this money, Big Brothers Big Sisters will be able to support their mentoring programs in the county for children in need. Though rounding up at the register may seem like a small amount, those 10 or 20 cents goes a long way when many people participate.
Big Brothers Big Sisters create and support mentoring relationships that pair a local youth up with an adult volunteer. These volunteers help out the child and build a relationship with them.
Jennifer Leu from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Fond du Lac County said, “We have a community based program where Bigs pick up their Littles at their house and go do something in the community, go to the park, go to the farmer’s market, just hang out, build that relationship.”
They also have a school based program in which the Bigs meet their Littles at school, typically at lunch time, and eat lunch to strengthen their relationships.
“I think it’s just a really easy way to get involved. Not everyone has money to give,” Leu continued, “It’s a simple one and done kind of experience that you can feel good about.” She says that every dollar counts to helping children in the area get the support they need.
Round-ups like these help fund the programs but also get more people aware of Big Brothers Big Sisters and how they could potentially help in non-monetary ways. They help reach new volunteers that have maybe never heard of their program before.
“We’re always looking for mentors in our program. I think that’s our biggest thing, obviously we need money to run the business… but just as important is having the volunteers who actually do the work and mentor the children and build those important relationships that help them,” Leu said.
Volunteers can be as young as 16 years old and the children can be ages six to 18 or graduate high school. Littles must be enrolled by a parent or guardian.
By having a mentor in their life, the kids are able to do better in school, have better relationships with their family members, go to college or find a job. It builds self confidence as well.
Leu mentioned, “I think round ups are a great way to get your name out there. We serve all of Fond du Lac County, so some of those more rural communities are a little harder to reach. And I think we do have some volunteers and children in the Campbellsport area at the elementary school.”
In addition to round-ups, they also have nights where an amount of proceeds at designated restaurants go towards Big Brothers Big Sisters. Around 10% of the proceeds earned that night go toward the nonprofit. This is another way they are able to fund the programs that help children in need.
In Fond du Lac they will be having a 21+ Halloween fundraiser where all proceeds go to the program along with an event coming up in December.
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