| Irvin Westheimer of Cincinnati first created the concept of Big Brothers in 1903. The idea was to share friendships with under-privileged boys without fathers. Today, there are Big Brother agencies in Asia, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United States and the West Indies. In Canada, there are close to two hundred Big Brother agencies serving fifteen thousand boys and girls, and directly involving over fifty thousand people.; Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver was incorporated in 1957 as a charitable society dedicated to helping boys within the Greater Vancouver area who lacked the friendship, understanding and guidance of an adult male. The mission of Big Brothers is to provide positive role models for boys from adult-male-absent families. The agency currently oversees two hundred and twenty-two Big and Little Brother matches with a full time staff of eighteen. Staff members also share their screening expertise as requested by numerous outside agencies across Canada.; In addition to traditional Big and Little Brother matches, the agency also provides mentoring for the Big Bunch and In-School mentoring programs. There are currently seven Little Brothers in the Big Bunch program. Two Big Brothers engage in group activities with these seven Little Brothers twice a month. The In-School mentoring program enables enrolled Little Brothers to spend an hour a week with their Big Brothers during school hours. The one-on-one mentoring relationships are monitored by school counsellors and conducted on school premises. |
