Funding for a new van has begun as Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) Lloydminster look to raise $30,000 to $50,000 for their ‘Wheels for Bigs and Littles’ campaign.
Their current van is a 2003 model that Executive Director Brenda Robinson says is in need of being replaced.
“We use the van for both our programs and for fundraising. Our total ridership in a year is 5,122 rides on average that’s for our programs and our safe ride home fundraising.”
The association has had a boost in their fundraising campaign with a $4,200 donation from 100 Men Lloydminster on Tuesday night. The club met to hear presentations from two organizations looking to receive their March 2018 donation. 100 Men Co-founder Rob Anderson says BBBS received the donation for their strong presentation to the club.
“They’re dealing with lots of young people in the community that need that mentorship or are looking for some direction. I think the van and being able to transport the kids to appointments or to events or to whatever sort programs they have going on is a big part of what they do.”
The club says they will collect the rest of the donations from their members who could not attend the event in the upcoming weeks.
BBBS has already had two donations totalling $20,000 for their campaign and Robinson says more information on the donations will be released later on, as this is a new project.
“Transportation can be a barrier for mentoring children and so if we can provide that transportation for the children to participate in mentoring programs then it makes all the difference in the world,” says Robinson.