Impact Grant: Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Desert
PALM DESERT, Calif. (KESQ) - News Channel 3, together with the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation, presented another Impact Grant to a local nonprofit working to improve lives and help those in need. A $25,000 charitable gift was awarded to Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Desert, a youth-empowerment organization whose mission is to create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships, helping kids reach their full potential.
Lola Kent is the "Big Sister" to 18-year-old Clementina Barragan. They were matched four years ago through Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Desert, and now spend several hours together a few times each month.
"We've been to sporting events, we've been to art galleries, we've been to musicals, we love to go to fun restaurants and try out new foods," Kent said.
It's a mentoring relationship that Barragan said has made a life-changing difference. "I have somebody who's experienced so many things, and she's helped me understand what the world is like, and what the world can be like," she said.
Barragan said Kent helped to transform her from a shy student into a confident, high-achieving senior at Indio High School, where she's involved in mock trial, theater, and several clubs. And Kent said she's gotten just as much out of the experience.
"This has just been the most rewarding thing I've ever done in my life. I don't have children, I've always had a mentor growing up, and I think kids need mentors," Kent said.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Desert was founded in 1997, serving youth ages six to 18 across the Coachella Valley. The organization provides free, one-to-one mentoring relationships, helping young people build confidence, resilience and life skills.
Executive Director Judy Tobin May said matches meet several hours per month to take part in positive, relationship-building activities. "Just having somebody beside a parent or a guardian spending time with a child. It's really simple, and it just really does make a huge impact that these kids really do develop a path past high school," she said.
And so, the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation and News Channel 3 presented the nonprofit with a special gift. The $25,000 Impact Grant will help Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Desert serve more youth in Indio and Coachella, by expanding site-based mentoring programs that pair high school students with elementary-age youth at Boys and Girls Club locations.
"This is just going to bring our life-changing mentoring program to more kids, which is so important," Tobin May said.
The goal is to give more Valley youth the tools they need to succeed, including communication, leadership and responsibility.
"I would not be where I am right now if it was not for Lola," Barragan said. "There's more than just the bad times in life, and she's helped me see the good times as well and appreciate all the days that we have."
Last year, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Desert served 239 kids across the Valley, and thanks to the Impact Grant, the nonprofit now hopes to double that number.
