There was an overwhelming sense of sorrow and loss recently at the offices of Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) of Prairies to Peaks.
On April 26, the agency announced it would be permanently closing its doors on May 12 after 30 years of service for the youth in Innisfail, Olds, Sundre, Bowden, Penhold and Spruce View. The agency's nine-member board of directors decided to pull the plug on BBBS at its April 13 meeting.
"For the children I am extremely sad that they won't have this program. The program was not just about the mentoring. It was being part of Big Brothers Big Sisters that they cherished," said Lucille Paquette-Lohmann, a mentoring coordinator and the agency's first executive director in 1987.
"We have had to tell our volunteers about the closure. We have had to tell our children. There have been tears," added Paquette-Lohmann.
"There have been great sentiments of support. The feedback I am getting from people is that there will be a great loss."
For the past three decades the agency has provided in-school and traditional mentoring programs in six communities in the region, and is currently serving about 170 youth. About 157 volunteers serve the agency as mentors.
Sherry Dijkstra, who took over 10 months ago as volunteer executive director of BBBS, said the agency was facing serious financial difficulties over the past three years, and was in a "high" deficit situation 10 months ago when she took over. She said although the community rallied during the past year with financial support at local fundraisers, it was "not enough" to keep the agency afloat. Dijkstra noted BBBS was unable to secure desperately needed grants from various private foundations and the provincial and federal governments.
"The problem is that they say they get thousands of applications and they don't have enough money to go around, so they pick and choose, not that we are not a worthy program, but it is just that they have more asks than money," said Dijkstra, adding the agency is closing its doors with a deficit of more than $30,000. "This agency has struggled for years and has done a phenomenal job with its programming and still is, but it's just time to stop struggling.
"We are ever so grateful for all the community support, all the partners we have worked with, all of our schools and wellness workers," she added. "All of these partnerships made our program thrive and be strong and we are thankful for the continued support over the last 30 years."
In the meantime, Dijkstra said at least three local mentor-mentee matches would be maintained and managed by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Red Deer, while wellness workers at local schools have told the agency they will try to keep "some sort" of mentoring programs. However, she conceded some youth in the region relying on BBBS would be left without services.
"I know our local schools have been heavily involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters, and our students have certainly benefited by having this connection," noted Kurt Sacher, the superintendent of schools for Chinook's Edge School Division.
"We will be working with our schools to determine how best to shore up some of the roles that this service has provided that will be lost when they close. This group will be greatly missed."
Lucille Paquette-Lohmann, Innisfail mentoring coordinator
"We have had to tell our volunteers about the closure. We have had to tell our children. There have been tears. The feedback I am getting from people is that there will be a great loss to this community."
