Twenty-year-old Bailey Foles already has two younger sisters and one brother. Madison, 7, has two brothers.
Together, the two of them have forged a connection through Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Florida. Foles, a biomedical science major at the University of West Florida, is a Big Sister to Little Sister Madison, a first-grader.
Since matching in February, Foles and Madison have picked strawberries, played chess, collected seashells on Pensacola Beach, shopped for spring dresses, spent time reading together and even seen a movie together.
“Madison makes my day better. It makes me feel good to know and to see that I am making even just a small impact on her when we do stuff,” said Foles, who joined Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Florida during the national organization’s recruitment campaign, NFL Inspire Change Initiative’s 2025 Big Draft.
The campaign kicked off Feb. 10 and aims to recruit 10,000 mentors in 60 days. It ends on April 27, and to date over 9,800 Big Brothers and Big Sisters have joined the national organization.
Locally, 86 residents have volunteered with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Florida. However, Amber Casart, spokeswoman for BBBS of Northwest Florida, said so many more “Bigs” (Big Brothers and Big Sisters volunteers) are needed in this area.
There are 237 children in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties waiting for Bigs, according to Casart. Across the BBBS of Northwest Florida region – Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton and Bay counties – a total of 316 children still needs Bigs.
“This is a pretty big number for us, and this is why we need more Bigs. We tell the families that we’ve got your information, we have you on the list. When we know of somebody, we’ll give you a call,” Casart said. “And we try to match them as quickly as we can, but it depends on how many people come to us wanting to volunteer.”
In 2024, BBBS of Northwest Florida served 638 children. Of that number, 444 children were in Escambia County. In Santa Rosa County, 27 children were served, with 88 in Okaloosa and Walton counties and 79 in Bay County.
To become a BBBS of Northwest Florida Big, potential volunteers must pass a background check. Other qualifications include:
- Be at least 18 years old
- Make a 12-month commitment as a Big
- Have contact with your Little at least twice a month but no more than four times a month
- Have reliable transportation, no DUI or DWI convictions in the last three years, no illegal drug use or substance abuse/misuse in the last three years, no more than two moving violations on driving record in last year and no more than three moving violations in the last three years.
Volunteers are also required to complete online agency trainings before being matched with a Little.
BBBS of Northwest Florida also has other volunteer opportunities for those who can’t commit to becoming a Big. Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, Beyond School Walls, Bigs with Badges, Big Futures, Community Based Mentoring, Site Based Mentoring and Big Duo are among those programs.
The one-on-one mentoring program has positively affected Madison.
“Bailey is an awesome Big Sister. She likes to play with me, and I like to play with her too,” said Madison, wearing a pale-yellow sundress – one of the outfits that she and Bailey picked out while shopping together. “We went to collect shells at the beach.”
A little shy, Madison also shared that the two of them saw “A Minecraft Movie.” Her favorite part of the movie, she said, was the “chicken jockey.”
Foles said she always surprises Madison – who she meets up with on weekends – with a fun activity. This past weekend, the two hung out at the BBBS of Northwest Florida’s Big Scoop ice cream social.
“My brothers like to mess with me a lot, and having a sister isn’t really the same as having a brother,” Madison said. “Both are good. Bailey is different from the boys because she likes to collect stuff, and I like to collect stuff. And she likes to play with girl stuff.”
Foles considers being a Big as a true blessing.
“It’s something that you do to make an impact. You get to just be a big sibling. Being able to give someone your attention and pour time into them and to encourage them, it’s such a great thing,” Foles said.
“It’s something that big brothers and big sisters already do in families, and that’s something where you don’t have to be blood related to be family. … It’s great both ways. She teaches me probably more than I teach her.”
To learn more about the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, visit BeTheBig.org or bbbsnwfl.org.
发表回复