(6/5/14) - (Harrisonburg) Everett Withers, the new JMU football coach, speaks at the Big Brothers Big Sisters' annual fundraiser "Start Something BIG Breakfast" Thursday morning. (Nikki Fox/Daily News-Record)
PRESTON KNIGHT
HARRISONBURG – John Cassara and Everett Withers aren’t interested in the money the young people in their lives make, be it $30 or millions.
It’s the relationship that leads the youth to earn whatever sum of cash that matters, the men say.
Photo: Everett Withers, the new James Madison University football coach, speaks at the Big Brothers Big Sisters’ annual fundraiser, Start Something BIG breakfast, on Thursday. (Photos by Nikki Fox/Daily News-Record)
After 26 years in law enforcement and federal government intelligence in Northern Virginia, Cassara moved to Rockingham County and signed up with the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Big Brothers Big Sisters about two years ago.
He was matched with Jonah, a 7-year-old county boy he has spent regular time with since, including seeing that his lemonade stand got up and running.
“You should have seen his face that first day, he made $30,” said Cassara, 60, a father of three grown children. “I’ve enjoyed it as much as my `little.’ … I just offer him quiet support and encouragement and let him know that I am there.”
Photo: A man looks over donation options at the Big Brothers Big Sisters’ annual fundraiser, Start Something BIG Breakfast, on Thursday morning at the JMU Festival Conference and Student Center.
Withers, James Madison University’s new football coach, gets satisfaction in seeing his players move on and up in the world, such as three Ohio State University teammates he most recently coached who were drafted into the NFL in May.
Text messages the coach received from the trio didn’t thank him for suddenly making them millionaires, Withers said, but credited him with being a positive influence in their lives to reach football’s biggest stage.
“Coaching is not about being a guru at X’s and O’s,” said Withers, who was named JMU’s head coach in December. “Coaching is about helping young people grow and maximizing their potential. … That’s what mentorship is about [too].”
Cassara and Withers were among the speakers Thursday morning for Big Brothers Big Sisters’ annual Start Something BIG breakfast at the JMU Festival Conference and Student Center. The celebration offered a crowd of about 200 a chance to hear success stories from the 40-year-old local chapter with the added hope that people will feel compelled to donate to it.
The agency serves about 800 Harrisonburg and Rockingham County youth ages 5 through 18 on a $450,000 budget, Executive Director Susan Totty said. Another 100 children are on a waiting list.
Roughly 75 percent of the youth served live below the poverty line, and 10 percent of those have parents behind bars, officials say.
One of the biggest needs is for adult men to volunteer, Cassara said.
“There’s a little boy out there that needs you,” he said to men in attendance Thursday, “and truly I have found the more you give, the more you receive.”
Withers believes he’s living proof of that mantra, crediting his rise in the coaching ranks to the impact that men he played for since youth football have had.
“You don’t take vacations from coaching or mentorship,” he said.
Photo: The Big Brothers Big Sisters annual fundraiser Thursday offered a crowd of about 200 a chance to hear success stories from the 40-year-old local chapter with the added hope that people will feel compelled to donate to it.
For the second straight year, the national BBBS recognized the Harrisonburg chapter as a “national quality organization,” one of only a dozen out of 341 in the nation. The designation is given to agencies based on the length and strength of match relationships, among other factors, Totty said, and shows potential donors that they will see a return on their investment.
“This organization has proof that its results work,” said John Black, president of the organization’s board.
Contact Preston Knight at 574-6272 or [email protected]