About Us
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cape Cod & the Islands is a division of BBBS of Eastern Massachusetts. We’ve come together to ensure that more children can gain a mentor when they want one. We’re here to make sure our children thrive.
About Our Programs
The mission of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cape Cod and the Islands is to partner with under-resourced families to provide their children with transformational, one-to-one professionally-supported relationships with caring adult mentors, so that their children will thrive. We want youth to achieve their full potential, which only contributes to healthier families, better schools, brighter futures and stronger communities. Through three innovative program models we ensure children have more opportunities to be provided with a mentor.
Community Based Program:
This is our traditional match in which adult mentors are paired with children ages 7-12, and agree to see each other for three hours, a couple of times a month. Each match is hand-selected by our team based on shared interests, geography and personality. Bigs and Littles plan their own outings filled with things they enjoy doing, like sports, going to the beach or listening to music.
School/Site Based Program:
Volunteers are matched one to one with youth and meet together approximately once a week at a particular site at scheduled times. We work collaboratively with local schools, after school programs and other sites (The West End Boys and Girls Club, for example) to match youth with adult volunteers.
Campus-Based Program:
In Bourne, Wareham and Onset where we aren’t able to match as many youth as we would like to because of a lack of mentors, we partner with Massachusetts Maritime Academy to ensure over 50 children have a cadet Big. In this program model, we transport children 1 day per week afterschool to the campus to meet with their Big, and participate in activities facilitated by a member of our team.
Our Cape & Islands program is led by our Regional Director, JR Mell, a two-time Big Brother and lifelong resident of Cape Cod.
History of Cape Cod & the Islands
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In 1974 an informal group of volunteers began serving as mentors to six disadvantaged youth on Cape Cod. Soon after, the group was formally organized as Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cape Cod & the Islands. The program was founded due to the large population of at-risk children- particularly those living in single-parent homes on Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard.
In 2006, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cape Cod & the Islands merged with Boston-based Big Brothers Big Sister of Eastern Massachusetts to improve organizational sustainability and increase capacity to serve children. Based in Hyannis, MA we are currently the only one-to-one youth mentoring agency on Cape Cod.
Today, our office serves 335 children on Cape Cod & Martha’s Vineyard through three innovative program models that ensure children have access to a mentor. As a 2019 Agency of the Year recipient from Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, we are committed to serving youth in the highest quality program model for the next 45 years.
Looking Forward
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cape Cod & the Islands recently completed a 7 year strategic growth initiative to sustainability double the number of youth served with a Big. As we lay the ground work for our next strategic initiative, post COVID-19, we are focused on ensuring our program is aligned to meet the greatest areas of need with the highest possible outcomes.
- Establishing the groundwork to expand our existing donor base
- Increasing our staffing in order to meet the demand for our services
- Build upon our existing volunteer pipeline to ensure diverse mentors for the youth we serve
The Sky's the Limit
Thanks to partners like Cape Air, in FY20 we completed a strategic growth initiative to double the number of kids we serve with a mentor.
“One of the most important ways to teach our kids is mentorship, caring, listening and just being there. Perhaps no agency does that better than Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cape Cod & the Islands. In addition to financial assistance, Cape Air plans to lead the way by offering Cape Air employees paid time away from work to enable them to step forward as a Big Brother or Big Sister to at risk children in our communities. I urge other business leaders across Cape Cod & the Islands to join us in this worthwhile endeavor.”
– Cape Air’s CEO, State Senator Dan Wolf leads the call to the community for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cape Cod & the Islands.
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First 7 Activities As a Big
Download this essential fact sheet for activity ideas that will help you and your Little get to know each other!
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10 Things to Know Before Becoming a Big
Download this essential fact sheet to help prep for the volunteering process.