Mentors provide much-needed guidance and friendship, but male volunteers are in short supply
CBC News · Posted: Feb 19, 2021 5:00 AM ET | Last Updated: February 19
Kirkland resident Alex Toundjian looks back fondly on the time he spent with his father, doing activities and learning about life.
Years later, Toundjian is working to impart some of that experience onto an 11-year-old boy named Troy who he met through the non-profit organization, Big Brothers Big Sisters of West Island.
“It is a big commitment,” he said. “It’s just so rewarding, I’ve found. It comes with responsibility, but it’s really worth it.”
Toundjian was paired with Troy when the boy was just seven, and that relationship has continued over the years.
“You kind of build a relationship over that time. It’s been a lot of fun. I’ve kind of returned to being a kid a little bit. You get to do the kinds of things that, as an adult, you don’t think to do.”
They do activities together, like play video games or go sledding, and Toundjian stays in close contact with the boy’s mother.
With the pandemic, it’s been a bit more challenging as the activities moved outside or online, but he has continued to maintain their relationship, providing guidance and serving as a role model and friend.
A couple weeks ago, Toundjian pre-measured ingredients for a cookie recipe, brought them over to Troy’s place. He then went home to contact the boy online.
“We baked over Zoom,” he said.
But as important as Toundjian’s volunteer efforts are, the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization is in dire need of more people like him.
Male recruitment campaign launched
“Due to recent events surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, we are facing a growing demand for youth services within our community,” the organization said in a statement this week. It says there’s a waiting list of more than 50 children.
Of those kids, 44 are boys and some of them have been waiting for more than a year for a match with a big brother during a time when the need for a consistent, supportive role model has become more important than ever, the statement says.
To try to meet that need, the organization launched a three-week male recruitment campaign on Monday.
Mental health resources are in high demand, but not every family has the means to provide their child with access to a therapist, the organization says, and that’s where the volunteers can help.
“We really want to make sure the youth in our community are well supported,” said executive director Megan Semenchuck.
Boys, she said, are looking for a “consistent mentor, somebody to spend time with and talk to.”
She said the pandemic has been particularly isolating for young people.
“They are facing some mental health difficulties, some anxieties around school during the pandemic,” Semenchuck said.
Pandemic doesn’t prevent fun
Despite the public health guidelines, she said it is possible to connect with youth through virtual programs. Volunteers are able to stay safe, while still helping children, she said.
Along with the organization’s offering of online activities, volunteers have found creative ways to connect with and entertain their little brother or sister by doing things like dropping off care packages, she said.
While there are many women volunteers, Semenchuck said there is a lack of male mentors stepping up to the plate across Canada.
That’s why this newest campaign is so important, she said, reaching out to potential volunteers largely through social media with hopes that men will offer a helping hand.
“I think that these services are more critical than ever,” she said, as kids feel cut off from friends and extended family. “Our youth really need to be well surrounded.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/big-brothers-mentors-needed-west-island-1.5919542