Lunch Buddy Program Mentors Needed at Big Brothers Big Sisters

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – Big Brothers Big Sisters of Zanesville is recruiting mentors for a school based mentoring program. 

They are searching for adult or high school and college volunteers that would be willing to spend a lunch hour with a child. The mentors will be matched up with a student from grades 1 through 6, from any of the partnered schools in the area. During the lunch hour, the bigs and littles participate in activities, games, and projects. 

“We’re looking for adults that might want to spend a lunch hour with a child. Usually this helps kids with relationship building. And once they get those social skills down, they do better in schools, they do better relating to everyone in their whole lives,” said Executive Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Zanesville, Jenni Masterson.

Programs, such as the lunch buddy program, gives kids a chance to build relationships and helps strengthen developmental assets. The programs also have a big impact on the littles to gain self confidence and school performance.

“All of these different factors can make it tough to learn in school. So any at risk child can benefit from a mentor that can be there as their big friend, that can help them learn to develop relationships and work on some of those soft skills. Our curriculum this year is based on social, emotional learning…so it’s really going to help kids develop some of those skills that the teachers don’t necessarily have time to work on,” said Masterson.

For more information on how to become a mentor, just call the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Zanesville at 740-453-7300.