Back in October, Laura Chassaigne, Editor of The Boston Day Book, attended our launch party for the Chicks Dig Bigs campaign, where she was first introduced to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay. That night, Laura saw first hand the impact a mentor could have on the life of a child and told us she wanted to help us spread the word about the campaign. Hear from Laura how the new year and National Mentoring Month is the perfect time to consider becoming a Big Brother or to simply encourage the man in your life to mentor.

We are a few weeks into January, which is not only National Mentoring Month, but a month that for many people means looking back over the last year and making resolutions for the year to come. January is a great time to think about what you want to foster in your life, and if your resolutions touched on giving back to your community or making friends then it could be a perfect time to think about becoming a Big Brother.

A few months ago, I had the chance to meet a few local Big Brothers who told me about their experience with the program. They all spoke passionately about how important their relationship with their Little Brother is to them. Many felt that their experience was much more than simply being a positive adult role model: at its heart it was really all about friendship.

Life can be so busy, and it is easy to imagine that we don’t have enough time for mentoring. However, being a Big Brother takes less time than you might think. Just getting together with a young person for a few hours a couple times a month is all it takes. Matches are based on common interests, so becoming a Big Brother gives you an opportunity to bring a new friend along to the things you already like to do!

Plus, volunteering is a powerful way to improve your own happiness in 2014. People who volunteer report feeling healthier and less stressed, and they feel more connected to others in their community. That connectedness and sense of purpose can be a real source of happiness. As Gretchen Rubin writes in The Happiness Project, “One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy.”

Volunteering to be a Big Brother might help you do both this year.