Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Suncoast Receive Several Grants from Local Foundations

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast has received a grant from SunTrust Foundation – Tampa/Southwest Florida in the amount of $20,000 for its Beyond School Walls program. In the BSW program high school students meet with their mentors in a business setting, giving students the opportunity to experience what it means to work for a corporation, learn business etiquette, and identify educational requirements for professional success. 96% of seniors completing the program are continuing their education, joined the military or entered the work force.

United Way South Sarasota County has awarded $22,000 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast for its Beyond School Walls program. The funds are for the students served in Osprey, Laurel, Nokomis, Venice, Englewood and North Port. In the BSW program high school students meet with their mentors in a business setting, giving students the opportunity to experience what it means to work for a corporation, learn business etiquette, and identify educational requirements for professional success. 92% of seniors completing the program are continuing their education, joined the military or entered the work force.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast has received $15,000 from the  Wilson – Wood Foundation for their Reading Bigs program serving children in the Third thru Fifth grade. The Reading Bigs program is designed to foster a love of literature and aid in the development of grade-level reading skills for elementary school children at risk of failing Florida’s standardized reading tests. Reading Bigs improves participants’ reading skills through a variety of reading activities that are specific to the child’s reading level and are monitored by Big Brothers Big Sisters and the child’s teacher to ensure progress. 90% of the children maintained or improved reading proficiency.

The Wawa Foundation has selected Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast to be a recipient of a $3,000 grant.  Funds from the grant will support the Decisions to Win program in  Lee, Manatee and Sarasota Counties. In the DTW program an adult mentor from the community works one-to-one with a high school student in this focused, intensive course consisting of an 18 lesson workbook on personal decision-making. . In 2018, 95% of the students that participated in the program either graduated from high school or were promoted to the next grade.

Heron Creek Community Foundation recently awarded $2,000 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast  to support their Gateways To Graduation program in North Port. Gateways to Graduation serves 8th-12th grade students who have been identified by school personnel as those at risk of not graduating or not being promoted to the next grade level. Volunteers provide weekly, one-to-one mentoring on each student’s school campus, helping the mentored youth to become academically motivated and to develop planning skills and goals.