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The Big Brother Big Sister Movement
The Big Brother movement began in 1903 when Mr. Irvin Westheimer of Cincinnati befriended a fatherless youngster who began calling Mr. Westheimer "big brother". Because of his experience with his "little brother", Mr. Westheimer solicited business friends who agreed to befriend other fatherless boys. In 1904, in New York City, a group of young men volunteered to work on a "one man-one boy" basis with boys who had become known to the children's court. In 1947, Big Brothers of America was formed to serve as a national accreditation and standard-setting agency for local Big Brothers organizations.

The first Big Sisters program for girls began in New York City in 1908. Big Sisters International, Inc. was organized in 1970 in Washington DC, where it served as a national accreditation and standard-setting agency for local Big Sister organizations, whose purpose was to provide guidance, advice, and companionship for girls, through one-to-one friendships with stable female volunteers.

Big Brothers of America and Big Sisters International merged in June, 1977 becoming Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, headquartered in Philadelphia PA, serving both male and female children. As of January 1, 1997 there were approximately 512 agencies throughout all 50 states, most offering combined Big Brother and Big Sister programs.

Rappahannock Big Brothers Big Sisters
The Reverend Thomas G. Faulkner, Rector of St. George's Episcopal Church in Fredericksburg, was instrumental in founding the Rappahannock Big Brothers agency in 1967. In 1974, the Agency incorporated a Big Sister chapter as part of its program, making it the first organization in Virginia to sanction a combined Big Brother Big Sister program. Rappahannock Big Brothers Big Sisters, Inc. is a full-member agency of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, and serves the city of Fredericksburg, and the counties of Caroline, King George, Spotsylvania, and Stafford.

By 1999, RBBBS was administering a core program with 90 matches, as well an after-school program (“M&M’s”) in three different schools and a new Sports Buddies mentoring program.

In October 2000, the agency launched “Campus Pals”, a new mentoring program that matches primarily freshmen college students with children from the agency’s waiting list, and also those referred by area schools. The program takes place on Sunday afternoons on the college campus, with the emphasis on sharing friendship and exposing youth to a college environment. It is a one-on-one program with occasional group activities. The agency supported 27 matches in the first year of the program.

Also in fall of 2000, RBBBS expanded its school-based programs (M&M’s) and began corporate mentoring partnerships in Stafford County with McQ Associates and GEICO, who provided mentors for Falmouth and Hartwood Elementary schools, respectively. By fall of 2001, the agency had expanded into six different elementary schools and served 85 matches through its M&M’s programs.

In 2001 the staff had grown to six members including an Executive Director, a Director of Development (a new position), an Administrative Assistant, a School Mentoring Coordinator, and two Caseworkers. The agency had a Board of Directors with twenty-five members, a budget of $161,595, and four annual special events that raised vital funds: a “Winter Warm-Up” party (in February), Bowl for Kids’ Sake (in March), Taste of Fredericksburg (in May), and a Golf Classic (in September). Giving campaigns were conducted twice a year.

In 2002, RBBBS added on a fourth mentoring program called “Bigs for a Day” to provide a different level of service to youth and a new way for volunteers in the community to get involved. In this program, civic, church and school groups sponsor an activity for waiting list youth for a morning or afternoon. Examples are the Fredericksburg Jaycees “Bowling Day” and the Fredericksburg Moose “Funland Day.” This generates more visibility for our overall program and the hope is that it will help with volunteer recruitment for the Core program. It also helps keep the waiting list children connected to the agency while they wait to be assigned a Big. In 2003, 96 youth participated in “Bigs for a Day.”

By 2003, the agency employed seven staff members ( 3 Full-Time, 4 Part-Time), including a contracted Grant Writer who replaced the Director of Development and a contractual Special Projects Consultant to assist with graphics, public relations and fundraising. Since the Grant Writer began in July 2002, nearly $60,000 in grants were awarded to RBBBS. The grants created new mentoring projects called “Sunbeam Sisters” (Sunshine Lady Foundation), “Bigs in the Burg” (Philip Graham Fund), and “Protect & Respect Intergenerational Program” (The Governor’s Office). Over the past several years, the agency's fundraising efforts gained steam. The special events attracted ever-increasing corporate sponsorship and community participation.

The RBBBS website, newsletter, and public relations and marketing strategies continued to raise public awareness of the agency and its mission and to stir interest in the community's involvement in our organization from both the fundraising and volunteer mentoring arenas.

In February 2004, the agency posted a figure of 198 grand total matches, the largest number ever recorded. On April 15, 2004 the agency held its first Honorary Board meeting. The Honorary Board, comprised of ten members serving 3 year terms, help RBBBS meet its growth goals by serving as an expansion of the agency’s “think-tank” and helping to garner new sources of income. The agency’s budget grew to $224,122.

By July 2004, RBBBS had a staff of nine (3 full-time, 4 part-time, and 2 contractual), a Board of twenty-eight members and a nine-member Honorary Board. The agency's office space seemed to be at capacity at 325-A Wallace Street in the City. It was evident that the agency might need a larger facility in two to three years. In July, RBBBS began in earnest to move towards adopting the new Service Delivery Model developed by National, with four staff members attending training in Richmond and steps to begin staff-restructuring. By August, the agency had a Match Support Specialist, an Enrollment and Match Specialist, a Program Director, a Customer Relations Specialist, a Bigs in Schools Coordinator, a Recruiter, a Graphic Design Specialist, a Grants Consultant, and an Executive Director, all placed within a new staffing structure. Bigs in Schools forms had been adapted to be consistent with the SDM. Plans began, to develop additional new forms and procedures to ensure efficiency in screening and matching, with the deadline of fully adopting the SDM by December 31, 2004. A sophisticated metrics system was also planned to track progress and ensure accountability. Members of the Board of Directors worked with the Executive Director to develop a Strategic Plan, a Board Development Plan, and a Fund Development Plan, to help move the agency forward as it approached its 40th Anniversary in 2007.

On September 30, 2004, the Agency received the news that RBBBS, with its grant proposal to the US Department of Education, had been selected along with 164 other applicants in the country to receive funding. The amount of funding granted was $477,501 for three years. Executive Director Lisa Bales was named as the Project Coordinator of the grant project entitled “Mentor Magic.” Its purpose was to fund the expansion of the Agency’s Bigs in Schools program in the City of Fredericksburg, Stafford, Spotsylvania and King George. With this grant, the Agency’s staff increased to 12 members, with six at full-time status. Meanwhile, the Agency hired the services of Ruotolo Associates in December 2004 to conduct a Planning Study, with the purpose of determining how the community viewed the Agency and whether or not it was ready to conduct a community campaign to garner major gifts. Over the following several months, research was conducted and personal interviews were held. Finally, in June 2005, the Planning Study document was presented to the Board of Directors, and much was learned from this endeavor. It was determined RBBBS needed to engage in many development activities, such as educating the public and cultivating prospects, before venturing into a major campaign for the Agency.

As of October 2005, the staff was fully functionalized under the new Service Delivery Model (SDM) developed by National to bring about more efficiency in enrolling volunteers and matching children, as well as to produce better customer service overall. SDM meant a radical overhaul of the way the Agency conducts its programming, and it was a true milestone to finally implement it. The Agency served 384 matches in 2005 compared to 285 matches in 2004, an increase of 35%. Also, the agency had grown by 13% the number of active matches by the end of October 2006 compared to 2005, 5% over National’s growth goal for us. RBBBS served a total of 431 children in 2006.

By the end of October 2006, RBBBS had initiated a New Mentor Training program, a requirement of new Big Brother/Big Sister mentors in all programs. The training program module was based on a training that Judy Taylor from EMT in Folsom, California (in partnership with the Mentoring Resource Center/U.S. Department of Education) presented to the RBBBS staff on August 21-22 at the Agency. After RBBBS staff member Alison Mick piloted the new module with a group of Spotsylvania Bigs in Schools volunteers in September, new Program Director, Bobby Anderson, began delivering a steady regimen of New Mentor Training sessions on October 10. As of late November, the Agency had grown by 13% the number of active matches at the end of October compared to 2005, 5% over National’s growth goal for us. RBBBS had also signed a contract with an outside fundraiser to organize and expand the 8^th Annual Taste of Fredericksburg, marking the first time that the Agency had engaged a special events consultant to be in charge of one of our fundraisers.

During the years 2005 through 2007, the Agency has been looking for new income streams to help backfill the USDE grant funds that expired as of September 30, 2007. On October 1, 2007 RBBBS received the uplifting news that the Agency was awarded a large federal grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to administer a three-year Mentoring Children of Prisoners project.

By April 2008 RBBBS had 267 active matches across all programs. The RBBBS staff was comprised of four full-time staff as well as seven part-time staff, including a Volunteer Recruitment and Partnership Development Specialist. The Mentoring Children of Prisoners grant project, funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, incorporated over 60 matches and funded a number of key positions at the agency. The grant allowed RBBBS to focus services to this special population of children for the first time. While the program front was very positive, the downward trend of the economy was taking its toll on agency finances. Individual donations were down by $25,000 for the fiscal year and special events were down by $35,000. Numerous grant proposals were forecasted for submission in April and May, with the hope that a number of small grants could help close the gap in the agency's budget.