HYANNIS – Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cape Cod and the Islands is making changes to its usual operations and moving to a more remote format to better deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and keep its mentors and Littles safe.
JR Mell, Regional Director for BBBSCCI, said that they are making sure that they are meeting national standards of safety during the outbreak and changing the format of mentor relationships to still provide their services despite restrictions.
“We’ve changed our program to require Bigs and Littles to connect at least once a week for a minimum of twenty to thirty minutes. Either Facetime, Zoom, or Google Hangouts,” said Mell.
Mell said that they are still encouraging enrollment during the crisis as Bigs are a great support for kids as other services are closed.
“The majority of kids we serve have lost their biggest support system which is their schools. So there’s a lot of social isolation right now for kids. So, it is so important for our Bigs to stay connected with our Littles. To that end, our program team has really gone above and beyond, and we’ve continued enrolling kids who can benefit from having a mentor virtually,” said Mell.
“We’ve also transformed our program so potential volunteers, because there’s a lot of people right now who have time on their hands and who maybe have always thought about getting involved, they can also enroll virtually right now.”
Mell said that technology is now playing a crucial role in their organization as more and more of their services become remote and virtual.
“We could not continue our program service model without the availability of technology. We’re very thankful to our donors who over a year ago invested in our technology so that all of our staff can work remotely and our Bigs and Littles can stay connected remotely, as well,” he said.
“Just last week, we also made our first three new match meetings virtually for them to connect during this period of social isolation until this passes.”
According to Mell, Littles have been stepping up as mentors for the Bigs, as many Littles are very familiar with technology and digital communication.
“We’ve had a lot of Bigs who are letting us know that they’re learning a lot from their Littles during this period of time which is great for that mentoring relationship where there can be a two way street.”
Mell said the organization will continue to monitor the pandemic and make changes to their August and July fundraising schedules accordingly.
“We’re hoping to be back by then, but we’ll see what happens.”
Mell said that Big Brothers Big Sisters, while working hard to adapt to the virus, is also looking forward to the day when they can return to normal operations.
“That one to one connection, though virtual right now, is really based on that ability to be in person. I think we’re no different than the rest of the world right now, where everyone is very eager to get back when it’s safe to that in-person connection.”
About Grady Culhane
