THE UPEI SUN,Thursday,Jan.25,1979,page 2

BIG BROTHERS- COULD YOU

Big Brothers is a professimally adminis— tered agency that uses volunteer men in regular friendship assignments with fatherless boys on a one— to—a'le basis. 'Ihis agency agency's chief purpose is to help these boys cbvelop their character and persmality so that they can become respcnsible and productive men. . The ONE MAN — (NE KN principle of mcbrstanding and friend- ship has been the basis of the achievement of the goals of Big Brothers of P.E.I.

How then does the process of applying to be a big brother or a little brother fmctim and how is the matching of a man and a boy carried out?

Little brother applic— atims must care from the mother or legal guardian only. Criteria for

application are simply that the boy be between 6 and 16 and that the father must not be in the home. After receiving the application, a caseworker interviews the mother and

fit 0 N E he pictures on this page are pictures from the last A.C.T. weekend. As you can see, there are three of them. In picture number 1 we see Kent Osborne. And yes, he is wearing a mask. When asked to describe the weekend, he smiled and said that it was definitely

In the second picture, behind the cup, is Judy Gallant; Judy had this to say about A.C;T.: "It's a great chance for people to get together and talk about what's important in their lives." Along the same lines she said, "nu-you meet a lot of

., applicant.

the little brother to determine their interests ‘. and background and also ‘ ' ‘ their needs and expectat— ions con‘cerm'ng their involvement with a bit brother. Following this ,‘ the little brother would be matched with a big brother. Often, however, the little brother will a have to wait up to one year before an appropriate big brother is available. After receiving a bit

brother application ,

several steps are followed. First, letters of reference are sent to persons familiar with the Second, an extensive interview is arranged with the applic- ant to ascertain his reasons for involvement, his expectations of the match, his social involve— ments and interests, and his personal background. If tie appointed caseworker feels that the applicant would make an adequate big brother, then the process of matching begins. The staff will review all little brother applications

to find the most suitable and compatible boy

possible for the Big Brother. 'Ihe Screening and Matching committee, a sub-committee of the Board of Directors, reviews our recommendations on tire match in making the .final decision. (hoe finalized by the committee, the Big Brother is provided with.

a review of his chosen little brother. If this is acceptable to the big brother, the same procedure is duplicated for the little brother and mother. If all three parties are in agreement, then a date and time is arranged for all to meet one another. At this point a new match has begun.

'Jhe caseworker assigned will follow up 01 the match at least once a month to resolve any problems that may arise and in addition to ensure that all parties are reaping the benefits from this most important relationship.

In terms of time commit- ‘ ments, the big brother is expected to allot minimally 3—4 hours a week to spend

TWO

new friends at A.C.T." Then she said, "But the funny thing is, that most people won't go without a friend in the first place, because they don't know what they're getting in to and they feel better if they've got someone with them who doesn't know either." Judy was right; quite a few people do think like that. The reasming is understandable but incorrect. By the end of an A.C.T. Weekend, you've got friends coming out of your ears. For instance, Judy is now (at least I like to think) a friend of mine. Before A.C.T. I

didn't know who Judy was.

Judy also added , in

closing, that she thought

the A.C.T. Weekend was,

above all, "wort‘mvhile". _

Now where did I hear that

before? ' _ Fran picture number 3,

I was able to find Al

Ward to talk with. Al told

me that it was on an A.C.T.

' Weekend that he first

discovered "Giristians could think". I agreed because it was on an A.C.T. Weekend that I made the same discovery. Al also said that it was on an A.C.T. Weekend that he first realized God wasn't alien to his life. From the way he said it, you could tell that this

- their own choosing; our onl

-You will be giving the

our mmber one fund-raising

' you can relax and relate to

this piece.

~signuptoccmeifyou

on IT!!

with his little brother. Furthermore, we advise that the relationship continue for at least a year. The activities whid1 the big brother and little brother engage in are of

role in this matter is to provide suggesticns if called upm.

After reading this artic you may feel that being a big brother is "one heck of a lot of work". ChAthe cmtrary, according to reports from our people, enjoyment and fun more accurately diaracterize thi relationship. At the moren we have 39 matches in operatim with an additiona 25boys inneedofabig brother. ' Since the need is clearly there, we would all you "closet big brother to think about volunteering a few hours of your time.

greatest gift — friendship.

Stay tuned for next week's article Whidl will concern itself with Bowl for Milli

drive. . *

realization had done some- thing for him. Al finished off with this: "At A.C.T..

other people, with God." I thought that was a pretty good quotehso decided I'd use it to finish But I almost forgot - earlier on, Judy told me to be sure to I mention that the Weekend 15 fun. 'Ihat's right. Consider it said, Judy. _ 'Ihe A.C.T. Weekend beng next Friday night, Feb. 2- It ends Sunday afternoon; Feb. 4. Next week there will be a desk in the Library so that you can

want to‘ Paul Moore.