Twenty-two year old DeJarvis has a “Big” heart.  Just ask anyone who knows him, like his “Little” brother, nine year-old Demetric; or better yet, just watch Demetric’s face light up when he talks about the day he met DeJarvis. “We had a good time…the first day we met, I showed him around school, and I was so happy…we had cake and juice,” he beams.

In September 2009, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Coastal Empire (BBBS), who brought Demetric and DeJarvis together, will celebrate the one-year anniversary of its first match - the pairing of a “Big” and a “Little”, or a mentor and mentee.  The local chapter of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America was established in Savannah in April 2008, at a time when many other chapters were closing or being consolidated.  Having been besieged by inquiries from area citizens for years, the Southeast Regional Vice President was eventually convinced to come to Savannah to meet with a delegation of advocates and determine if the need was sufficient enough to warrant approval of a new chapter, which it was.  But even with the go-ahead from Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, it still took the collaborative efforts of United Way of the Coastal Empire and a few private citizens to bring Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Coastal Empire into being.  “United Way played a pivotal part in getting the national organization to come back and look at Savannah…they even went as far as to be part of the task force to help get the organization formed,” says John Kendricks, Executive Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Coastal Empire.

Within its relatively short life in our community, BBBS established, and currently supports, more than 100 active matches through its community-based and school-based mentor programs. “Bigs in Schools”, which is funded by United Way, is one of the fastest-growing mentoring programs in the country,” says Kendricks. “And what we’re striving to do is to expand that program to serve four more schools for a total of 120 children, and the next year we plan to add another school and another 30 children; we plan to do that continuously every year thereafter.”

DeJarvis learned about “Bigs in Schools” when a match specialist visited his fraternity.  A mechanical engineering student at Georgia Tech-Savannah, DeJarvis considers himself very fortunate to have been brought up by both of his parents and credits their influence on his desire to impart to others the wisdom and support that he was given; like his mother’s guidance to always value and believe in himself, or his father’s instruction to never mistreat people.  For DeJarvis, to do anything less is a waste, “To keep those things within me and not share them is useless, but if I can spread it to Demetric, or any of his young male friends, it’s positive,” he declares.

Demetric, who is soon to enter fourth grade, knows that he, too, is fortunate to have a loving mother and younger brother.  But the lack of a positive adult male influence in his life left him out of balance and unable to focus on his schoolwork.  So when his school counselor told Demetric about “Bigs in Schools”, he eagerly shared the news with his mother. “I was so excited,” he recalls.

And, if you ask Demetic’s mother, Trudy, she will tell you that the “Bigs in Schools” program has been very successful for her son.  “Demetric started off the school year having a really hard time focusing, which impacted his grades.  But, by the end of the school year, he had made honor roll and was also awarded the ‘Most Improved’ student in his class; and I commend DeJarvis for being a part of that,” she says, holding back tears, “it’s been good.”

The key to the success of Big Brothers Big Sisters is its unique approach. “There are many other great organizations in the community that work with children…but their mentoring is different from ours in that our relationships are one on one, and are supported by a professional staff member, whose only job is to work with that match and to assist the entire family by helping them to identify resources and other things that will make that family stronger,” says Kendricks.

But make no mistake about it, the benefits go both ways. Just as DeJarvis has been able to help Demetric learn to focus on his studies and to push himself to improve in all aspects of his life, Demetric, in turn, has taught DeJarvis the value of slowing down and reflecting.  As DeJarvis simply puts it, “It’s a win-win.”

For more information about Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Coastal Empire, call 912.233.7670. 

United Way is a proud funder of this program.  To learn how you can support programs, such as this, call (912) 651-7700 and thank you for helping our community to LIVE UNITED.