Bowl for Kids’ Sake helps BBBS roll toward success

Nolan Erpelding of Hopkins, Minnesota, tries to pick up a spare in his rst frame of bowling while his brother, Everett, watches Saturday morning, April 13, 2019, as part of the Bowl for Kids’ Sake fundraiser. The boys were guests of their uncle, Dr. Brian Bunkers of Mayo Health System — Owatonna. Mayo brought a large group Saturday morning, lling all the lanes but two at SpareTime Entertainment. (People’s Press le photo)

By JEFFREY JACKSON jjackson@owatonna.com

OWATONNA — When faculty and staff from the Owatonna school district gathered on a Friday afternoon in mid-April last year at Spare Time Entertainment to participate in Bowl for Kids’ Sake — the annual fund-raiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Minnesota — they had a couple of goals in mind. They wanted to bring in more money than they did the previous year, and they denitely wanted to bring in more money than their counterparts in Faribault. well. BBBS of Southern Minnesota had set for itself a goal of raising $75,000 to help with its mentoring programs. Not only did BBBS hit that goal, the organization surpassed it, raising more than $81,000 — close to $82,000 — through the two Bowl for Kids’ Sake events. A perfect match What they’re looking for is a perfect t.

The previous year, 2018, the Owatonna faculty and staff raised $6,900, and last year the Faribault educators brought in $6,200. Last year, the Owatonna educators easily met both of their goals, raising $14,300. That is the goal of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Minnesota — often simply known as BBBS — when they are trying to match a volunteer mentor to a child who needs the support of a caring adult.

“How crazy is that?” said Michelle Redman, executive director of the Owatonna-based Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Minnesota at the time. “We didn’t have words, we were so excited.”

The educators weren’t alone in not only meeting, but surpassing their goal. The organization as a whole surpassed its goal as “It’s so very important to make that perfect match,” Redman has said.

But to understand why that is so important and to understand further the signicance of the success that the BBBS has had here, you need to take a step back. Continued on next page

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In 2018, an estimated $40,000 was raised for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Minnesota at the annual Bowl for Kids’ Sake in Owatonna. This contributed to the grand total of $75,000 between the two events held in Owatonna and Faribault. (Press le photo)

Helping the children Founded in 1904 by Ernest Kent Coulter, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America has as its stated goal “to help all children reach their potential through professionally supported one-to-one relationships with volunteer mentors.” Coulter, a New York City court clerk, saw more and more boys coming through his courtroom every day, according to BBBS history, and he recognized the possibility that caring adults could help the children stay out trouble. That’s when he set out to nd volunteers who would mentor the boys. About the same time, the organization’s history recounts, a group called Ladies of Charities started working with girls who were coming through New York City’s court system. Later, that group would become Catholic Big Sisters. Then, in 1977, the two organizations merged, creating Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, but still tracing its beginnings back to Coulter more than 100 years ago. “For more than a century, Big Brothers Big Sisters has been helping change kids’ perspectives and giving them the opportunity to reach their potential,” the organization says on its website. Locally, nowadays most referrals don’t come through the court system but through the schools and through the county’s social services network, said Redman.

“The schools see what a mentor does for a child,” Redman said, adding that because of the presence of a mentor in the life a child, the child will often undergo a noticeable “behavior switch” in school.

The children are often referred to Big Brothers Big Sisters by the schools because teachers in the schools see the children struggling socially, emotionally or academically. They may be having what Redman referred to as “issues” at home, with their peers or in their academic endeavors. And maybe, just maybe, what that child really needs is an adult is his or her life who cares and is willing to give some time to that child.

“There is a lot of need in the communities we serve,” said Redman. “We’re very good at hiding the need. We don’t see the poverty. We don’t see the need.”

But, she added, there is need in the four county region served by BBBS of Southern Minnesota — Steele, Rice, Dodge and Waseca counties. Steele County has the most children served by BBBS with 329, followed by Rice with 205, Dodge with 123 and Waseca County 39. There is homelessness in those counties, there are mental health issues, and there is drug use. And according to Redman, 69

“Children are affected by those issues,” said Redman. “Every child born to a parent should have a pathway. But when a parent is struggling with mental health issues or a parent is struggling with abuse — physical abuse, mental abuse, drug abuse — you see a parent struggle and you wonder, ‘What does the pathway look like for that child? How can we open up a pathway for a child?’”

And that, said Redman, is what Big Brothers Big Sisters tries to do.

In a passage gleaned from one of the local BBBS pamphlets, research from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is quoted: “All risk factors from adverse childhood experiences can be offset by one thing: a stable, caring adult.”

Making a match

Of course, nding the right adult for a child is not as easy as it sounds. Nor is it simply a matter of “rst-come, rst-served.” The length and detailed procedure that the local BBBS goes through to make the matches — the “perfect matches,” Redman would say — is important in establishing a strong relationship between the Big and the Little.

“We want long-lasting relationships,” she said.

And one thing that the organization asks of its volunteers is commitment — a commitment of at least a year.

Then comes the big day — the day when the Big meets the Little and his or her parent for the very rst time.

“Everybody’s always a little bit nervous,” Redman said.

They spend a little time getting to know each other and also planning the rst time that the Big and Little will get together. Then, when their time is up and the child and the parent go home, the staff gets to hear the adult volunteer’s reaction.

Whenever a child is referred to Big Brothers Big Sisters, that child is put on a waiting list, waiting, as it were, for not just adult, but for the right adult to come along to be that child’s mentor. “Bigs,” they are called, and the children “Littles.” Currently, there are about 180-plus children on that waiting list waiting for a Big.

Whenever the next volunteer comes along, the organization does not simply pair up that volunteer with the next child on the list. It’s not that simple.

First of all, every volunteer has to go through screening, including a background to make sure that that volunteer doesn’t have anything untoward in his or her background.

“Child safety is a big issue, rst and foremost for us,” Redman said, adding that BBBS doesn’t accept every volunteer who comes to the organization.

Once a volunteer is cleared to be a “Big,” then the process continues with a match support specialist in the organization. The local BBBS has three such specialists employed, each with a four-year degree in either social work or child development. The specialist with conduct interviews with the volunteer as well as the child and with the child’s parent or parents.

“What do you want to do?” she said. “The best things are the comments from the volunteers,” said Redman. “They say, ‘How did you pick the perfect Little for me?’”

But, Redman said, that’s what they have been striving for all along — the right adult with the right child.

Smashing success

To say that Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Minnesota has been successful is an understatement. The organization was, in fact, named the 2017 Agency of the Year in the small to mid-size category by the national organization.

“We were number 1,” said Redman last year of the agency’s recognition by the national organization.

The local BBBS was recognized, she said, for its growth in number of children it served, for its quality of service, for the length of matches, for the retention of volunteers and for the growth in funding.

If that weren’t good enough, then Redman has even better news.

“2018 was even a better year,” she said.

In this April 2016 le photo, bowlers participating in Bowl for Kids Sake line up and prepare to roll at SpareTime Entertainment in Owatonna. The event is an annual fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Minnesota. (People’s Press le photo)

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didn’t. It exceeded it. Considerably. In 2018, the local BBBS served 708 children, which is a 19 percent increase from the number it served in 2017. And, to put that into perspective, nationally, the number of children served by local BBBS organizations declined by 4 percent while the number here increased by 19 percent. And in recognition for its stellar year in 2018, BBBS of Southern Minnesota was once again named the Agency of the Year in the small to mid-size category. “We are honored and truly humbled to accept this award for the second year in a row,” said Redman at the time of the award last year. “This award is not only a testament to the wonderful work our volunteers and staff, but also to the outstanding communities we serve. What Big Brothers Big Sisters does is urgent and important. Together, we are all defenders of potential.” And the reason that Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Minnesota has been so successful? Support from the community, said Redman. “The reason why we can grow is all about nancial support,” she said. “We couldn’t grow without support — nancial and from our volunteers.” One of the biggest — if not the biggest — supporters of BBBS is Federated Insurance, based in Owatonna. Since 2004, Federated has organized the two-day Federated Challenge and has raised nearly $35 million to support the three Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies in Minnesota, including the one based in Owatonna. The southern Minnesota BBBS receives more than $400,000 each year from the Federated Challenge, which equals roughly 40 percent of its operating budget. Day of Giving On that Saturday morning, April 13, before most of the bowlers arrived for the Bowl for Kids Sake event in Owatonna, Mayo Health System — Owatonna brought several of its staff members along with their family members, 60 in all. “This is our biggest staff participation ever,” Dr. Brian Bunkers, a family medicine physician and president of the clinic said at the time. And Bunkers wasn’t there to oversee the clinic staff. He was there to bowl, along with two of his nephews — Nolan and Everett Erpelding of Hopkins, who seemed to enjoy rolling the bowling balls down the lane.

Bunkers spoke of the Saturday morning event in the context of the day as a whole where at least three charitable events — Young Life Cake Auction and St. Mary’s Night of Knights, in addition to Bowl for Kids’ Sake — take place. Dubbed the “Day of Giving,” that one day will see hundreds of thousands of dollars raised, all to benet organizations dedicated to children.

“The Day of Giving is truly one of the things that make Owatonna unique,” said Dr. Bunkers. “Our staff embraces it.”