Big Brothers Big Sisters Central Plains (BBBS) is looking for possible volunteers to help out as September 1st marks the start of BBBS month.

Executive director Dawn Froese says at the heart of the organization, everybody with BBBS believes that no child should be left without someone to look up to in their lives. She notes, that while they don't have a specific reason as to why September is BBBS month, it's good to start looking for volunteers around this time.

"Our in-school mentoring program is going to start in September," explains Froese. "One lunch hour a week, you're matched with a child in elementary school. Our after-school program is on Wednesdays from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. again. It goes for one hour a week for the school year and you get to have a lot of fun with the kids that we work with."

She adds their hoping to get girls for the "Go Girls" programs that they run in Portage and Oakville. Froese mentions, however, that they cover a wider area of the Central Plains than just that.

"We cover Oakville, Portage la Prairie, we've got some kids living in Southport," says Froese. "We have programs in MacGregor and in Gladstone too, so we can use volunteers, either adults or high school students, from all those areas."

She says they currently have 40 matches, which is low when compared to their pre-pandemic numbers, which were around 70.

Anyone looking to volunteer with BBBS can find more information here.