Business
La Crosse Foundation provides big grant to Big Brothers Big Sisters for mentor program
A grant of nearly $100,000 is being awarded to La Crosse’s Big Brothers and Big Sisters program.
The money comes from the La Crosse Community Foundation, and its CEO Jamie Schloegel admits that this donation is “unusually large” coming from her organization. But she adds that Big Brothers and Big Sisters, also knows as “Bigs,” play a big role in helping the young people they partner with, referred to as “Littles.”
“Research shows that when compared to youth NOT in a Big Brothers Big Sisters program, Littles were 46 per cent less likely to begin using drugs, 52 per cent less likely to skip school, and much less likely to have interaction with the juvenile justice system,” Schloegel said at a Thursday check presentation.
The $95,000 grant is meant specifically to help finance a campaign called “60 Bigs in 60 Days,” which has been actively recruiting new mentors for youths in the Big Brothers system.
The funding is scheduled to span a three-year period, and BBBS of the 7 Rivers Region is nearing the end of its two-month recruiting campaign.