BBBS News

South Texas Agency Receives National Recognition The BBBS of South Texas Agency was honored at the 2007 BBBS of America National Conference with the Top Sustained Revenue Growth award in the large agency category.

Back row (L-R): Denise Barkhurst, Chuck Altmiller, Melissa Vela-Williamson, Jenna Harkins, Tom Russell, Jessica Gonzalez, Rudy Molleda Front row (L-R): Peggy Brink, BBBS of America President & CEO Judy Vrendenburgh, Beth Myers

[L-R]: Board Chair Art Kiolbassa, BBBS President & CEO  Beth Myers, Senator John Cornyn, Sandy Cornyn,  Vice Chair Scott Duffy

[L-R]: BS Laura Cavaretta, CEO Beth Myers,  Board Chair Art Kiolbassa, BC John & Marjorie Kmetz

Appreciation Night Thanks BBBS Supporters On Friday, April 13, Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas honored BBBS volunteers, major donors, and agency supporters at the agency’s annual appreciation event. Senator John Cornyn, Honorary Chairman of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Texas, added to the festivities by serving as the evening’s guest speaker. During the event, BBBS announced the 2007 “Bigs of the Year.” These seven Bigs were recognized out of over 2,000 Big Brothers and Big Sisters for their extraordinary work as mentors.  The 2007 “Bigs of the Year” are: Community-Based Big Brother of the Year – Mario Muniz Big Sister of the Year – Jennifer Wilson  Big Couple of the Year – John & Marjorie Kmetz School-Based  Big Brother of the Year – Charles Franks Big Sister of the Year – Laura Cavaretta High School Big High School Big of the Year – Crystal Cuellar As High School Big of the Year, Crystal has won a $1,000 award from the Jack In the Box Foundation.  2007 Donor Awards Big Champion  Alan Cerwick, Valero Energy Corporation Chairman’s Pinnacle Capital Group/American Funds Flint Hills Resources The Jack in the Box Foundation Corporate Partner of the Year Tesoro Corporation Excellence in Media Vincent Davis, San Antonio Express-News Media Partner of the Year WOAI-TV President’s Leadership  Den-Tex Central The Edouard Foundation The Golf Exchange HSBC The SCOOTER Store The Spurs Foundation Taco Cabana Texas Cavaliers School Partner of the Year Northside Independent School District Special Recognition AVTS

January was a Super Month for Big Brothers Big Sisters!

What better way to talk about the positive effects of mentoring than to show a mentoring relationship between two men who have reached the very top of their profession! Super Bowl coaches Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith know how important mentoring is, and they also know how great the need is now, especially for male mentors. To help, they recorded a Public Service Announcement for the Super Bowl and asked viewers to become a Big Brother or Big Sister. You can answer their call by volunteering today. To see the Super Bowl ad, click here. SEE THE SUPERBOWL AD

Hispanic Advisory Council Forms to Help Recruit Hispanic Mentors

In late 2006, Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas (BBBS) established a Hispanic Advisory Council to aid the implementation of the Hispanic Mentoring Initiative. The Hispanic Mentoring Initiative is a nationwide effort of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America to increase the number of Hispanic children mentored by caring adult Hispanic volunteers. The council members consist of community and business leaders who will help to create strategies for serving the community’s Hispanic population through mentoring.

2006 - 2008 Hispanic Advisory Council Members:

Rudy Molleda, Chair
Jaymie Balboa, UTHSC		DeeAnn McFarlin, H-E-B
Enrique Barrera, former city councilman		Mario Muñiz, Grande Communications
Lorena Blanco, Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities		Amparo Ortiz, Univision
Marcie Casas, Guerra DeBerry Coody		Lorraine Pulido-Ramirez, CityView
Ana Esquivel, Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities		Leticia Rodriguez, Port Authority of San Antonio
Danny Flores, H-E-B		Moses Suarez, Office of Commissioner Sergio "Chico" Rodriguez
Sammie Jo Garcia, San Antonio Express-News		Anamaria Suescun-Fast, Guerra DeBerry Coody
Celina Garza-Alvarez, San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce		Martha Tijerina, CTSA

The Children’s Shelter And Big Brothers Big Sisters
Announce New Collaboration To Serve Abused And Neglected Children

On Thursday, Sept. 14, Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas (BBBS) and The Children’s Shelter (TCS) announced that they are partnering together to serve some of the city’s most at-risk youth; abused and neglected children. Through this partnership, mentors from Big Brothers Big Sisters will be paired with a child in residence at the KCI Servant’s Heart Residential Treatment Center with the goal of following the child through the foster care system to provide a stable role model for the child during the process.

“We are very excited to work with Big Brothers Big Sisters and have a mentoring program available to these children,” said Scott Ackerson, vice president of residential care at The Children’s Shelter. “This new program will provide the child with an established mentor while adjusting to foster care, and will also allow our shelter to track the progress of the child throughout his or her childhood. It’s a perfect marriage of our two programs.”

The Children's Shelter opened the KCI Servant's Heart Residential Treatment Center in February 2006 to provide care for children 5-12 years old who have suffered abuse, neglect or abandonment and, as a result, have emotional dilemmas that make it difficult for them to heal and thrive in a family-based setting. The 36-bed home for children enables healing through individualized attention and therapeutic programming. There are currently 20 children residing at the Center.Of those, 5 are now enrolled to be matched with a Big Brother or Big Sister.

“Our agency is thrilled that we can finally serve this new population,” said Denise Barkhurst, executive vice president at Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas.“Since this is a transitional facility, it is imperative to get these children matched to a Big Brother or Big Sisters as soon as possible. With KCI and the community’s help, we hope to match these children as soon as possible.”

In order to help as a volunteer source, KCI has stepped in as the first business to embrace the partnership and will allow BBBS to host recruitment presentations at its three locations.

Volunteers matched in this program will be matched with a child in the site-based program while the child resides at the Center.  In this program, they will visit the child once a week to engage in recreational activities at the facility.  When the child is adopted, placed in foster care or re-unified with a parent or guardian, the “match” will then transition to the community-based program where the volunteer can pick up the child from the home to participate in activities in the community such as eating out, attend special events or going to the park.

Founded in 1904, Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) is the oldest, largest and most effective youth mentoring organization in the United States . Locally, BBBS of South Texas has served the Bexar County area since 1978, and has expanded to serve Comal, Guadalupe, Kerr, Nueces and Webb counties. The mission of BBBS of South Texas is to help children reach their potential through professionally supported, one-to-one relationships.  For more information or to volunteer, visit www.bigmentor.org or call (210) 225-6322.

The Children’s Shelter mission is “…strengthening our community by providing safety, well-being and lasting families for children.” Its services have expanded from emergency shelter care to a continuum of care of emergency shelters, foster care, adoption, residential treatment care, child abuse prevention and teen pregnancy programs, and Girls Incorporated curriculum.  For more information, visit www.childrensshelter.org.

[To read the Express-News article about the partnership, click here.]

Katherine Hollimon, vice president of development at The Children’s Shelter, Denise Barkhurst, executive vice president of BBBS of South Texas, and KCI volunteer council president/ Big Brother of the Year Damon Childs gather after the press conference.

Denise Barkhust addresses the crowd during the conference.

Camera crews from every San Antonio television station were present at the announcement.