Wednesday, November 26, 2025
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Serving Kosciusko County and parts of Elkhart, Marshall & Noble Counties Know Your Neighbor . . . . 2➤ Good Neighbors . . . . . . . . . 4 Entertainment . . . . . . . . 6-7
Vol. 55, No. 22
Milford (574) 658-4111 • Warsaw (574) 269-2932 • Syracuse (574) 457-3666
114 W. Market, Warsaw, Indiana 46580
BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS having an awesome year in Kosciukso County
By LAUREN ZEUGNER Staff Writer From celebrating one of its Big and Little matches receiving a national award to launching a new high school mentoring program, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Indiana, which serves Kosciusko County, has had a huge year. Briana Kessler and Makia Lucas started their Big Sister–Little Sister relationship as lunch buddies eight years ago and then transitioned to community-based mentoring. The two have been matched for years, and Kessler was there to support Lucas as she dealt with the death of a sibling, the murder of her father and the death of a grandparent. “She was able to overcome that with help from her Big and other adults in the community,” said Tammy Smith, director of community development: Kosciusko County for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Indiana. Lucas graduated from Warsaw Community High School earlier this spring with all three diplomas — Core 40, Honors and Technical Honors — along with an associate degree in criminal justice. “This girl is just phenomenal,” Smith said. Zimmer Biomet, Kessler’s employer, is planning a reception Dec. 2 to celebrate her participation in Big Brothers Big Sisters. As the school year started, Big Brothers Big Sisters launched a high school leadership program at Wawasee High School. The new program has high school students mentoring Littles in the elementary schools. “The cool thing about that program is our staff comes and teaches the high school kids the curriculum, and they then share it with their Littles,” Smith explained. Plans are in place to launch the program at Warsaw Community High School next semester. Mentone Elementary School is starting a site-based lunch buddy program. “We are now serving kids at every elementary
PUTTING ON THE RITZ — Little Brother Kadyen, left, and Big Brother Craig were matched earlier this year. They had the best showmanship during their walk by strutting, snapping and doing little finger guns and high fiving members like the Rat Pack. Photo by Maksym Hart.
school in the county,” Smith said. Mentone Elementary already has 12 volunteers ready to meet their Littles. Smith said the success of the school lunch buddy program is due to corporate sponsorships. For example, five of the 12 Bigs in Mentone’s lunch buddy program are from Midwest Spring and Stamping. Other partnerships include Medart’s, REMC and KREMC, as well as Zimmer Biomet and Polywood. “There’s always a need for more corporations to partner for supervised lunch buddies,” Smith said. Currently, Big Brothers Big Sisters has 70 children, ranging in age from 7 to 13 — the majority of them boys — in need of a Big as a lunch buddy or in the traditional community-based mentoring program. Smith explained that in the lunch buddy program, the Big meets with their Little for lunch once a week, while in community-based mentoring, Bigs and Littles meet once or twice a month for a few hours. To become a Big, a prospective volunteer must be at least 18 and have a genuine interest in seeing a child succeed. (In Selected Areas) The application process Bass Pro Shop Rural King includes Runnings Tractor Supply an interview, comMartin’s Supermarket pleting Countryside Nite Out an appli-
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cation, undergoing a criminal background check — sometimes including fingerprints — and providing references. “Once we get all this information, we have an attorney on staff who reviews the packet and approves the volunteer. Once approved, BBBS goes through the waiting list to match a Little to the new Big.” Smith stressed that BBBS works hard to match a Big and a Little through shared interests and other parameters so the match will be successful. Volunteers are asked for a oneyear commitment, and Smith said 80% remain with their match for longer commitments. “We hope they stay together. We don’t like switching around,” Smith said. Most matches last through the Little’s graduation from high school. BBBS has a match support specialist who checks in with the Big, the Little, the Little’s parents and the school to see how the match is going. The match support specialist is also available to answer questions and make suggestions. Smith said some hesitate to volunteer because they feel they don’t have time or need to be a child development expert. “They just need to be someone who will show up for a kid on a consistent basis,” she said. For those who can’t volunteer, Smith said they can be involved by supporting BBBS events, such as the upcoming Bowling for Kids’ Sake in the spring, or by inviting BBBS to speak to their church or service club.
NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED — Briana Kessler, left, received the National Big of the Year award while Makia Lucas, her “Little” received National Little of the Year earlier this year. The two have been a match for the last eight years. Kessler has been able to support Lucas as she overcame a lot of tragedy in her life.Photo provided by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Indiana serving Kosciusko County.
NEW MATCHES — Shown are Elijah and Nicolas when they met. Nic, right, was inspired by his grandpa, a former principal, and his dad, a youth pastor, to have a passion for service. Elijah was excited to have a new best friend. Photo provided by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Indiana serving Kosciusko County.