HARRISONBURG,VA. — Big Brothers Big Sisters of Harrisonburg-Rockingham County has been awarded a $40,000 grant through the Walmart Foundation’s State Giving Program to help support youth facing adversity. The funds will support the agency’s Enhanced Site-Based Mentoring Program, a component of the We Read to Succeed early literacy initiative. We Read to Succeed is a community-wide initiative, led by United Way of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County designed to ensure that more students in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County are reading at grade level by the end of third grade.
“Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are pleased to continue to support Big Brothers Big Sisters and their Enhanced Site-Based Mentoring Program,” said Brooke Mueller, Director Public Affairs and Government Relations, Walmart. “We understand the importance of early education and are delighted to help students in the community achieve their academic goals.”
The grant marks the third of its kind provided to the agency by the Walmart Foundation, totaling $105,000 in revenue over the past three years. The award enhances the long-standing relationships that the three local Walmart facilities have had with Big Brothers Big Sisters. Through Walmart’s Local Giving Program and Volunteerism Always Pays grants, combined contributions from the local Distribution Centerand two retail locations in Dayton and at Harrisonburg Crossing since 2011 have exceeded $26,000.Walmart associates have also provided board leadership, volunteer mentors, and fundraising support to the agency through employee participation in the agency’s annual fundraiser, Bowl for Kids’ Sake.
The grant will partially offset a reduction in federal grant funds to support programs like Big Brothers Big Sisters. Without a diversification in funding, the decrease could limit the number of children matched in the program in the coming year.
“These funds will be put to immediate use to help us serve the most vulnerable children in our community,” explains Sue Totty, Executive Director of the Big Brothers Big Sisters agency in Harrisonburg. “With this gift, the Walmart Foundation will positively impact local children by helping to put them on a path toward academic and personal success.”
As an affiliate of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, the nation’s premiere donor-and-volunteer supported youth mentoring network, the local agency served 680 children in 2014 by matching them in professionally supported, one-to-one mentoring relationships with caring adults. Evaluation data shows that children enrolled in the local program consistently experience improvements in academic performance, avoidance of risky behaviors, and increased self-esteem.
About Big Brothers Big Sisters
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Harrisonburg-Rockingham County is a youth-services organization that pairs adult mentors in professionally guided, one-to-one matches with children facing adversity. As an affiliate of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, the nation’s largest donor and volunteer supported mentoring network, the organization holds itself accountable for children in the program to achieve positive, measurable outcomes through research-based methods. Among other improvements, local evaluation data shows that children served progress academically, avoid delinquency, and experience increased self-confidence. Founded locally in 1976 as an outreach of Trinity Presbyterian Church, the organization is the largest Big Brothers Big Sisters agency in the state ofVirginia, serving 680 children 2014. For more information, please call 540.433.8886 or visit www.bbbshr.org.
About Philanthropy at Walmart
Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are committed to helping people live better through philanthropic efforts that draw on the strengths of Walmart in the arenas of sustainability, economic opportunity, and community. As part of our commitment to creating a more sustainable food system worldwide, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are leading the fight against hunger in theUnited States. They recently exceeded a $2 billion goal to fight hunger one year ahead of schedule and have donated more than 1.5 billion pounds of food to those in need across the country. To learn more about Walmart’s giving, visit www.foundation.walmart.com.