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Email Newsletter, August 2008
 Join
Us for Race for the Kids!
Experience the Power to Change Lives
on September 27th at Riverside Park
Register now for the 4th Annual Big Brothers
Big Sisters of NYC Race for the Kids, sponsored by RBC—part
of Nickelodeon’s Worldwide Day of Play! The 4K Run/Walk
and 2K Fun Walk will take place on Saturday, September 27th in Riverside
Park at 72nd Street and celebrates the power of mentoring and emphasizes
the importance of health, exercise and play. On Race Day,
Bigs, Littles, BBBS of NYC volunteers, teams from many of the city’s
corporations and friends from throughout the five boroughs will gather
to raise awareness and funds for BBBS of NYC. Following the Run/Walk,
all participants are invited to a picnic featuring Nickelodeon’s
famous Slime America Truck, Nickelodeon characters, a musical performance
by The New Menudo and field day games provided by the NFL and Alliance
for a Healthier Generation. BBBS of NYC is very pleased to have RBC
return as the title sponsor of the event. In addition, the organization
welcomes the NFL and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation as new
event partners. Additional event sponsors currently include: Verizon,
JPMorgan Chase, Willis, Zurich, AIG, United Healthcare, Vitamin Water,
WebMD, and Crunch Fitness along with media sponsors WNBC, Telemundo,
WKTU, Z100, Q104.3, Power 105.1, Sports Illustrated, Men’s Health
Magazine and The Daily News.
 The
post-event picnic, held at the soccer field at 70th Street and Riverside
Park, will feature Nickelodeon entertainment, Nickelodeon characters
SpongeBob and Pick Boy, NFL and Alliance for a Healthier Generation
field day activities as well as kayaking, basketball clinics, dance
workshops, stilt walking, tile design, face painting and more. The
picnic is a great way to cap off this fun day of family, friends and
fundraising.
Last year’s event helped to raise nearly
$600,000 to help support BBBS of NYC’s mentoring program, and
also helps to spread the word about the power of mentoring to all
New Yorkers.
To learn more about participating as a team
or individual, or for additional information about corporate sponsorships
and donations, go to www.raceforthekids.org
or call 212-994-7741. Join BBBS of NYC and experience the power to
change lives!
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Bank of America Gets BBBS of NYC “Littles”
Rolling
Many BBBS of NYC Littles can now let the good times
roll. For the second year in a row, through an event made possible
by Bank of America, more than 100 BBBS of NYC Littles received brand
new Huffy bicycles, along with new helmets and locks. The bicycles
were assembled by teams of Bank of America employees from around the
world as part of the company’s “Bikes for Kids”
corporate team-building program organized by “On Target Teams.”
 The
bikes were assembled and distributed at events on July 9th at the
Armory in Washington Heights and on August 1st at Chelsea Piers. Helping
to spread the joy among the city’s youth in need, this year
BBBS of NYC invited youth from Alianza Dominicana, a grassroots social
service organization based in Washington Heights, to participate in
the event and receive bicycles as well. “Having bicycles opens
up a whole new world for these kids, most of whom wouldn’t have
the opportunity to own and ride a bike without this program,”
explains BBBS of NYC Education Specialist Kathy Kunath.
Back to top
 Little
Brother Selected to Protect Island
Sanctuary Through Landmark Volunteers
This summer, 18-year-old Tyrell, a “Little”
from the Bronx, who is in the BBBS of NYC Workplace Mentoring Program,
left the city for the first time in his life to help protect the ecosystems
on a 1,230-acre island off the coast of Maine. Landmark Volunteers,
a highly-selective national youth volunteer organization, chose Tyrell
out of hundreds of applicants from across the country. He and other
teen volunteers spent time removing and repairing fences, clearing
trails, pruning trees, cutting logs and more on the Holbrook Island
Sanctuary.
Tyrell, who enjoys photography, wanted an opportunity
to see the world beyond the city and have a new experience. Although
the work was hard, he enjoyed the scenic vistas and meeting teens
from across the country. “I never really thought much about
the environment before, but cleaning up made me feel good because
I helped make a difference,” he explains. He hopes to get involved
with environmental causes in a local park this fall. Tyrell’s
Big Brother of two years, David, who works at Deutsche Bank, encouraged
him to apply to the program and try something new. Another BBBS Little,
a 16-year-old in the Building Futures Program, also participated in
this summer’s Landmark Volunteer program in Sharon, CT.
Landmark Volunteers is a nonprofit organization giving
motivated high school students the opportunity to make a real difference
in the world around them through volunteer opportunities across the
country. BBBS of NYC covered the cost of transportation for both Littles
to enable them to participate.
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Paramore Makes a Power Play to Support BBBS of NYC
 Please
join us on Thursday evening, August 28th, for a special concert event
benefiting Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City. The popular
platinum album-selling rock band and Best New Artist Grammy Award
nominee “Paramore” will be performing at Rumsey Playfield
in Central Park with opening acts Jacks Mannequin, Phantom Planet,
and Paper Route. Tickets are $35.00 and a percentage of concert ticket
sales will be donated to BBBS of NYC, empowering us to change the
lives of more disadvantaged children in our community.
Doors open at 4:30pm, the show starts at 6:00pm. Purchase
tickets.
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 HBO
Hosts Sorority and
Fraternity “Littles” with
Workshops and Luncheon
Littles from BBBS of NYC’s Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity
mentoring program (Guiding Light Program) and the Delta Sigma Theta
Sorority mentoring program (G.E.M.S.) were treated like top executives
on August 14th at HBO headquarters in Manhattan. The event was organized
by Nikki Bethel Grant, HBO’s Vice President of Organizational
Effectiveness, who is also a Big Sister in the program.
The event included an educational/self-esteem workshop
where some of the “Bigs” discussed their professional
career paths and the importance of education, particularly higher
education, in achieving their goals. The adolescent Littles in the
Guiding Light and G.E.M.S. programs come from East New York, and they
are matched with young working professionals of color who are alumni
of the fraternity and the sorority. The New York Daily News sent
a reporter to interview Littles and Bigs at the event. Look for the
story soon!
Back to top
 Workplace
Mentoring Program Helps Students Secure Summer Internships
This year BBBS of NYC’s Workplace Mentoring
Program matched students from 45 New York City schools with mentors
from 50 corporations across the city. Students gain insight into the
world of work and the various industries of the participating companies,
learn office skills, and also spend one-to-one time with a mentor.
Another exciting outgrowth of the Workplace Mentoring Program is the
fact that many participating corporations offer some students the
opportunity to participate in summer internships.
During the summer, 19 Littles received paid summer
internships through participants of the Workplace Mentoring Program,
including PricewaterhouseCoopers, Citibank, New York University Medical
Center, American Eagle, US Attorney’s Office, McCann Erickson,
and Weil Gotshal Manges. The students have the opportunity to put
into practice the workplace skills they learned from their “Bigs”
during the program year, gain additional experience and provide a
leg-up for their future careers.
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