30 W. 6th Avenue Helena, MT 59601 Www.bbbs-helena.org

P.O. Box 1167 Great Falls, MT 59403 www.bbbs-gf.org

October 2018

Last March, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Helena and Great Falls announced that we had gone through a tremendous

financial upheaval with state, federal and local budget cuts. We unfortunately had to cut parts of our program, reduce

staff and operating expenses. We ran an emergency communication and funding appeal as a last-ditch effort to save

our program. With the incredible outpouring of support, we made it through the end of our fiscal year, June 30, 2018.

Today, we are still running with limited staff to carry on with our community matches. Our goal is to financially

sustain 110 matches and to increase our funding this year by $50,000 at which time we can resume active recruitment

of Bigs and Littles.

To help us in these efforts, we are so excited to announce that Big Brothers Big Sisters of Helena and Great Falls along

with more than 270 BBBS affiliates across the country is unveiling a new, modern look and brand repositioning. The

need for young people to have a role model is more urgent than ever. To attract more volunteers of all generations, we

needed a modernization of our brand.

We know that youth are facing numerous challenges. Our new brand is designed to help us ensure we can serve more

children and to relay the message of the urgent need for the adults in the community to step up to defend the poten-

tial of every child.

Our national office Big Brothers Big Sisters of America has provided the financial support for this marketing effort. In the next few weeks we will be sharing more about the new look on our online platforms, social media, and around the community.

Colleen Brady, CEO & President, Big Brothers Big Sisters

January 25, 26, & 27, 2019 October 27, 2018

Big Brothers Big Sisters thanks all those who donated in memory of Daren Fuson Fleiner and Charla and Dave

Taylor. We also thank those who have chosen BBBS as the recipient of their birthday gifts, anniversary gifts and

those companies who generously support our mission through matching contributions .

As a BBBS Match Support Specialist we have the privilege of following our matches and documenting their progress and their struggles through listening to their stories. What exciting stories of mentorship we witness through the eyes of our volunteers, youth, and their parents or guardians.

In this newsletter we would like to introduce you to Amanda(Big) and Makaiya(Little) who have been matched just over a year now in our Great Falls Community-Based program. Amanda and Makaiya are always ready for their next adventure and they really enjoy packing a lot in to a day. This is a duo that is truly thrilled that they found one-another.

They love to be out and active in a variety of community events as well as spending time reading, creating, baking and playing with Amanda’s two dogs at her home. In addition to Makaiya’s close friendship with Amanda, she and Amanda’s dog Winston, a three year old

Golden Retreiver, have created a great bond. When Makaiya is with Winston, he is always at her side, both protective and play-

ful. We look forward to watching Amanda, Makaiya (and Winston’s) relationship continue to thrive.

Thanks to our sponsors, auction donors, attendees, volunteers, caterers and especially

George’s Distributing, we had our most successful Wine Crush ever! If you missed it this

year, please plan on joining us May 18th for an unforgettable event that supports over 50

matches for Big Brothers Big Sisters.

The 3rd Annual Meadow Lark Charity Golf Outing benefitting Big Brothers Big Sisters was a huge success! We raised $33,000 for the kids in our program! Thank you to all our amazing sponsors, golfers, vendors, and the staff at Meadow Lark Country Club for all your support for this event.

Anderson ZurMuehlen &

Company

Bench Industries

Central Floor Covering

Citizens Alliance Bank

D.A. Davidson Companies

Falls Construction

Floors & More

First Interstate Bank

George's

Gusto

JCCS

Loenbro

Metro Auto

Mighty Mo Brew Co.

Montana Federal Credit

Union

Nelson Comfort Solutions

Northwestern Energy

Opportunity Bank of

Montana

Pacific Steel & Recycling

Rich Kuka, L.C.P.C.

Russell Country Realty

STARadio

Stockman Bank

Tammy Quintrell Stubbs,

Allstate

TRU Roofing &

Construction

Uptown Optimist Club

US Bank

JUNE

Wyatt & Christopher 4 years

Gracie & Susan 3 years

APRIL

Alissa & Lauri 4 years

Shyanne & Kathryn 3 years

Samantha & Margaret 3 years

Molly & Ariana 2 years

Rylee & Karla 1 year

MAY

Braydon & Steve 6 years

Azaria & Blair & Brian 4 years

Andrew & Justin 2 years

Ebbon & Scott 2 years

Justice & Kathy 1 year

JULY

Sarenaty & Katelyn 4 years

Kayd & John 3 years

Julianna & Ashley 2 years

Cheyanne & Hannah 2 years

Kaiya & Josie 1 year

Ariana & Melissa 1 year

AUGUST

Amarissa & Jessie 4 years

Olivia & Brittany 3 years

McCabe & Daniel 2 years

Cassandra & Mikaela 2 years

Sierra & Ryan 1 year

AUGUST continued.. Makaiya & Amanda 1 year

Tanner & Dallas 1 year

SEPTEMBER

Christian & Dale 3 years

Thank you to our generous sponsors:

A BIG thank you to Wipfli, John Burbidge, and Danzer’s for do-

nating their time and a BIG bucket of paint so we would be ready

for the new logo and colors!