A Look Back on My First Year

This has been a year for the BBBSPS history books. While still recovering from the widespread effects of the pandemic on our organization, BBBSPS has experienced unprecedented generosity and increased community engagement. The entire organization has gone through a period of deep learning, assessment, and process improvement. With your support, we’ve set records in multiple areas, strengthened match relatioships, and created an environment primed for success.

In August, over 400 program participants came together for the largest Annual BBBS Family Picnic in our history – and the first since 2019. Participants were excited to come together and connect with other matches and families. Recent matches enjoyed their first picnic, and long-term matches were glad to finally come back together again in this way. I felt blessed to have this opportunity to get to know so many Bigs and Littles. I heard so many inspiring stories about the positive impacts Bigs are having in Littles’ lives.

One story that stood out to me was about a young boy who joined the program after his father passed away. His mother shared that this young boy had been despondent and disengaged from life. She knew he needed a Big Brother he could look to for guidance and support. As we spoke, I watched this happy, excited young boy running around, laughing, and playing games. I was stunned that this was the same child she talked about. The positive impact his Big Brother had on this boy’s life is amazing, and it’s just one example of the incredible power of mentorship. 997 matches experienced that power this year, with 89 of these matches celebrating being matched for 5 or more years. That’s over 1800 people whose lives have been changed forever because of your support.

We also began the planning for our pilot program with Amazon called Bigs In Tech, an effort to help Seattle youth access experiences related to the tech field.

This year, we were incredibly honored to receive the largest single gift from an individual in the organization’s history: $1.2 million from MacKenzie Scott. And then another wonderful surprise when Big Brother Mike King selected us as his charity of choice for a $100,000 gift as the winner of Ten-X’s “Battle of the Bids” competition. Taken separately, each of these gifts are historic. Together, they are enabling the kind of transformation that will be felt for years to come. You’ll see some of the details of this outlined later in this report.

So many elements came together to make the 2021-2022 fiscal year historic, and the biggest element of all is you and all of the wonderful people like you in our community. The records set and the processes improved, the Bigs and Littles matched, and the gifts given; each of these things happened because of your support. Thank you for your commitment to youth, to mentors, and to our community.

Alonda Williams, President & CEO, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound