Originally Published: 2010-03-07

Each week, Tandem profiles a volunteer in the community whose work inspires readers to reach out and lend a hand.

This week, Tandem spoke with Stuart Smith, who volunteers in the School Mentoring Program with Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Toronto (BBBS). BBBS is the leading child and youth serving organization providing mentoring programs across the country. Providing support to more than 1000 Canadian communities, BBBS’ 135 local agencies offer the service that the organization was founded on: One-to-One Matching. Men and women (age 18 or older) give up their time to become a mentor to a young person who can greatly benefit from having an adult role model to look up to.

What is your volunteer position?
“I’m involved in the in-school program with Big Brothers and Big Sisters. The in-school program is a little bit different than the one-on-one program because you get to see your little brother or sister externally at the appropriate time. The in-school program is where I get to see my little brother actually on the school premises where we can do activities and spend time with each other during his school day.”

Why did you decide to volunteer with Big Brothers and Big Sisters?
“Almost 12 years ago I started with Big Brothers and Big Sisters. I have two older brothers myself, so both of them as well as my father were very influential in my upbringing and I recognized that some people weren’t so fortunate when it comes to that. Because my brothers and father were such good role models to me I feel like I have the ability to do the same and share that with others who don’t have it.”

Give us a snapshot of your volunteer day.
“When I get there I sign in with the office and then have him come out of whatever class he is in. The schools are usually very supportive of the Big Brothers and Big Sisters program, so there is no issue when I pull him out of class. When we’re together we do some activities like go to the library and play board games or we’ll go outside and play basketball, soccer, or football. It is all about teaching them, for example, I taught him chess because he didn’t know how to play.”

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