Crab Bash!

Last Friday some lucky volunteers from Big Brothers Big Sisters got to participate in the Barkley Haggen Crab Bash! Between the Face painting, coloring contest, and sidewalk chalk drawings all the children and volunteers had a blast!

The main attraction however was inside the store doors, where crew member Mike Fortner from the Deadliest Catch TV show was signing autographs and posing for pictures. He brought with him an autographed jacket that the crew wears on the show, which was auctioned off. Proceeds from the auction went to supporting BBBS!

Thank you Haggen for inviting us to help with your event, we had a great time!

Karibou Hair Salon gives BIGS a discount

We are very lucky at Big Brothers Big Sisters to have such amazing supporters, like the Karibou hair salon! They have graciously decided to give a 10% discount to all BIGS, and if you bring in your Little then they get a free haircut! Thank you Karibou!


Visit the Karibou Salon website for more information

School Buddies Program!

Most people know about our community based mentoring program, where you donate your time to a child in need and become a big brother or sister to them. Its a great opportunity to change a child's life, and if you're interested we would love to hear from you! Just contact Colleen Haggerty at (360) 671-6400

But for those of you who would love to donate your time, but are to busy to commit to the program, you're in luck! We have a school-based program, or "School-Buddies" program in which you spend an hour a week with a child, at their school. Its a much smaller time commitment, but you make just as big a difference in a child's life.  

The program is designed to improve youth’s social skills as well as foster academic performance. The volunteer meets with the student on the school campus, once a week during school hours, for a minimum of one school year. They play games, shoot hoops, just hang out or work on homework. We have found that programs that encourage activities with a socio-emotional focus are more likely to have greater academic impact, higher quality and longer duration compared to programs that focus on academic/tutoring activities.


Visit our website for more information!

The Golf Classic was a great success!

Thank you everyone for so much support at our most recent fundraising event, the Golf Classic! For those of you who couldn't make it, here is a little about what the Golf Classic is all about. 

The tournament was held at Avalon Golf Course in Burlington, WA and organized by board member Stan Chronister.  It was the first event that saw dramatic gains under the watch of recent addition Bliss Goldstein CEO. “Every time I heard the clink of a golf ball being hit, I thought ‘there’s one more at-risk kid we can help,’” said Goldstein.  “This amazing turn out says to me that the community wants Big Brothers Big Sisters to succeed and to help these children succeed by giving them their very own personal mentors.”

The Golf Classic is a board driven event, designed to put as little pressure as possible on the staff of BBBS, who are already running lean to stay viable during difficult economic times.  The board has recently felt a resurgence of devotion and dedication to seeing BBBS succeed while other non-profits are struggling.  All board members committed to seeking donations, teams, sponsors, and players which resulted in a net profit increasing 178% increase from last year’s efforts.  “We had wonderful sponsor support from the local community this year, the best turnout we've ever had for golfers, and it made for a very successful day for BBBSNW,” said Stan Chronister, who organized the event.

To see more pictures from the event, visit our Facebook page! 

BBBS serves 300 children throughout Whatcom county annually and matches children whose futures are at risk with the childhood they deserve.  BBBS has the BIG goal of providing a mentor for every child in the community who wants or needs one.  After all, every child needs someone to look up to.