Latest News

Jack in the Box Restaurants Introduce Beanie Jack

Jack in the Box Restaurants recently launched the "Beanie Jack" antennae ball promotion benefiting Big Brothers Big Sisters. The promotion will help raise funds and awareness for BBBS agencies across the country. Beanie Jack is sold for $1, excluding tax, at all participating Jack in the Box restaurants, while supplies last. Seventy percent of Beanie Jack sales will go to Big Brothers Big Sisters, the primary charitable partner of The Jack in the Box Foundation for the past 10 years.

Several New Grant Awards Support BBBS

August 1, 2008: Big Brothers Big Sisters is proud to be the recipient of several recent grants supporting mentoring throughout our service areas. Each of these grants allows BBBS to continue serving Central Texas by helping youth succeed through one-to-one mentoring programs.

• The Lowe Foundation awarded BBBS a $15,000 grant to support our existing community-based mentoring program in Marble Falls;
• The City of Bryan/College Station awarded a Community Development Block Grant in the amount of $12,695 to support services to Brazos Valley youth;
• The Department of Family and Protective Services awarded BBBS of Texas $1.5 million, to be allocated statewide for community-based mentoring programs. Central Texas' portion covers services to an additional 170 children; and
• The Lola Wright Foundation awarded the agency $20,000 for a new telephone system.

BBBS Welcomes New Board Members; Rolls In New Board Chair

Big Brothers Big Sisters has named two new members to its 2008-2009 Board of Directors and elected a new Board Chair. The new members are Chris Jones, Senior Financial Consultant, Stephen's Inc., and Earl Moseley, Administrator/Educator, Texas State University. Dave Roon, VP Commercial Sales - Texas Region, Time Warner Cable, began his two-year term as Board Chair in October.

Jones' interest in BBBS lies in his desire to help youth make good choices through mentoring relationships. He hopes his board service will give more children a better chance at success so they can lead productive and fulfilling lives and make their mark as members of the Austin community. Moseley, who represents our Hays County service area, has been involved in higher education in his community for 22 years. He is committed to the mentorship and improvement of young people, especially in the Hays County area and looks forward to building a lasting agency to serve those youth. Roon has served on the Board for three years where he has been involved on various committees including Fund Development and Partnerships. Through his service, Dave will work to ensure the continued sustainability and vitality of BBBS programming throughout Central Texas.

Arby's Fundraiser Proves That Each Dollar Helps

Eight Arby's restaurants located in Travis, Williamson and Hays counties recently raised more than $1,000, one dollar at a time, to support mentoring in the Central Texas region. Customers who visited select Arby's restaurants were able to donate $1 and sign a “Help Us Help Kids” pin-up to hang on the wall of the restaurant. Last year, Arby's raised more than $1.6 million nationwide through its pin-up campaign.

It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's a Really Large BBBS Banner

Through a national partnership between Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and Holiday Inn, the Central Texas agency was able to partner with Holiday Inn Town Lake to spread the word about our recruitment needs and bring more volunteers to the agency. Throughout October and a part of November, the BBBS message was displayed from an extraordinarily large banner hanging from the parking garage for all to see on their commute down IH-35. BBBS sends out a big thanks to Holiday Inn for their generosity and help recruiting more mentors for our agency.

Big Brothers Big Sisters take to the lake

August 4, 2008 from News 8 Austin:

More than 100 children and their mentors from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas enjoyed a day at the lake this Saturday at the 2008 Hobie Day. Organized by Big Brothers Big Sisters and sponsored by BAE Systems of Austin, the event gave kids in the BBBS mentoring program a chance to enjoy a day of fun in the sun, including swimming, free food, and sail boat rides on Lake Travis provide by Hobie Fleet 64.

To read the full story and see a news clip of the event from News 8 Austin, Click Here
To see a video of the news story from News 8 Austin, Click Here

BBBS Welcomes New CEO

August 1, 2008: The board of directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas has appointed Brent Fields as the new Chief Executive Officer of the agency. Fields succeeds Kenny Taylor, who left the area affiliate in April to pursue other opportunities. After reviewing more than 30 candidates for the position, the board of directors unanimously selected Mr. Fields to lead the non-profit agency. Brent has more than 25 years of nonprofit management experience serving organizations focused on education, healthcare and social services. He comes to BBBS after nine years of service with the American Heart Association where he served as a Vice President. Brent will guide the agency during its current unprecedented growth in volunteer recruitment and child services as well as lead the recently launched major donor campaign. Both efforts aim to provide mentoring services to 5,000 youth by the year 2015.

More Money Needed To Make More Matches

It isn’t easy being a kid these days.

More than 100,000 students living in Central Texas are labeled by the Texas Education Agency as at-risk of dropping out of school. Many face non-academic obstacles to academic success like hunger and poverty. In these complex and confusing times, children need a caring adult to be a friend - someone they can talk to, have fun with, and learn from. They need mentors.

Support from individuals like you is vital to provide mentors for children in your community. Your donation will help to:

• Recruit new Big Brother and Big Sister volunteers.
• Cover the costs of background checks and insurance, while ensuring trained professionals match children with caring and responsible Bigs.
• Make possible one-to-one, ongoing supervision and support for every match.
• Provide cultural and social activities to enrich the opportunities for children.

When you donate online to Big Brothers Big Sisters, you directly support children in our community. Whatever the size of your gift, donating will improve the lives of these young people and help them meet the challenges of growing up into happy, confident young adults. The bottom line: children matched in our program are less likely to be involved in violence and more likely to graduate from high school. Your support does make a difference in their lives.

Donate to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas

I Live Here I Give Here and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas

Austin is no doubt a caring community. But we don't act on our values by giving more to charitable organizations. National studies consistently find that Austinites give far less to charitable causes than people in other cities. In fact, Austin is ranked 48th out of the 50 largest cities in the nation in per capita giving.

The mission of the I Live Here, I Give Here campaign is to change that.

So, the I Live Here, I Give Here Campaign is on a mission to boost local giving by educating fellow Austinites about the needs in Central Texas and the organizations working to meet those needs.

To learn more about I Live Here I Give Here and it's work to promote Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas and other non-profits in the Austin area, Click Here