BY
LAUREL MYERS
Reaching out to the children in Sudbury for more than three
decades, Big Brothers and Big Sisters have made their mark on
the community. September is the month dedicated to celebrating
their contribution.
There are more than 150 Big Brothers/Big Sister agencies in
more than 1,000 communities across Canada that provide direct
service to about 23,000 children by matching them to adult
volunteers in quality mentoring relationships. In Sudbury about
200 kids are matched with mentors each year and there are about
60 children on a waiting list.
 
"It's become so apparent to me after working in the position of
director for the past 10 years, that the biggest job we do is
to interrupt the cycle of poverty," said Dave Battaino,
executive director of Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Sudbury.
"We put a wrench in it by taking the kids who may just roll the
cycle of poverty into their own generation and their own
family, and we actually stop it.
"We build their esteem and mentor them to a point where they
discover that they too can become successful - work toward a
meaningful education and job, and become contributing citizens
in the community."
Most of the children in the program come from single-parent
families.
"It's so tough being a single mom trying to provide food and
shelter for your children," Battaino said. "It's such a
daunting task to just put food on the table and provide clean,
healthy living conditions, in addition to building esteem in
your children. That's where Big Brothers and Big Sisters steps
in."
For Chantal Gladu, being a Big Sister has been an experience she wouldn't trade for the world. Working as a caseworker for Big Brother for the past five and a half years, Gladu decided to step into the "Big" role herself a year and a half ago.
"I've always been preaching about Big Brothers and recruiting
and acting as a caseworker," she said. "Now, I'm living what I
preach."
However, the caseworker wanted to be matched with a
teenager.
"It's so much harder to match a teen because people are always
picking the younger groups," Gladu said. "My Little Sister -
Laura Field - was 14-years-old when we first got matched. Both
of her siblings had already been matched so it was either I
step up to the plate and be there for her or take a chance of
her going through the program possibly not having a match."
As it turned out, it was a match made in heaven.
"Laura is the little sister I never had and it took time for
her to realize that I was going to be a constant figure in her
life," Gladu said. "I realized just how much she depends on me
and truly loves having me in her life."
