FEBRUARY 2023 ISSUE

Dear friends,

Although I’m still “new” to Big Sister Boston as the President and CEO, my relationship with our organization started years ago. Like many women who volunteer with us, I came to Big Sister through the Big for a Day program. Not only is Big for a Day a great way to dip your toe in the Big Sister waters, it allows us to engage Little Sisters who are waiting for a long-term match relationship as soon as they are enrolled with us. Find out more about Big for a Day here.

Before my civic career, I was a teacher and small business owner, running Stitch House in my Dorchester neighborhood. Stitch House allowed me to share my love for all things crafting, especially sewing, quilting, crochet, and knitting. It also gave me a space to host many Big for a Day activities over the years. I’ve had the honor of seeing so many Big for a Day volunteers and Little Sisters create, learn, and most importantly, have fun together.
 

As a mother and former teacher in the Boston Public Schools, I know how important it is for young people to have strong, consistent family and community support. For girls, these connections are even more critical – even if that connection is just for one day, it matters. Over the last two years, girls have been struggling with increased mental health challenges, lack of social interactions, and difficulty in school. Big for a Day helped me fall in love with the mission of Big Sister and through those engagements I came to appreciate the joy and impact these times together bring to our Big and Little Sisters: one stitch, one quilt square, and one glitter glue tube at a time.

While we are excited to have made 33(!) matches during our 31 BIG Days Challenge that took place over National Mentoring Month in January, we still need more women to step up to become Big Sisters – especially women of color who reflect the diversity of our Little Sisters. Not sure if you’re ready? Try Big for a Day! These hosted, group activities might just be the entryway to getting more involved, just as they were for me!

With gratitude and a desire to ignite,
 

Annissa Essaibi George
President & CEO, Big Sister Boston

Big Sister Gets Cookin' and Supports Self-Care

The end of January saw two awesome activities for our Big and Little Sisters to learn new skills, bond, and have fun together! Long-time partner, Milk Street Cooking School and the inimitable Rosie Gill hosted a fun day of flatbread-making for our Big and Little Sisters. Meanwhile, over at Athleta on Newbury Street, Zen queen Ashley Miller, hosted a journaling and yoga session for our Big for a Day volunteers and Little Sisters. Big thanks to our hosts for engaging activities that help foster connections between our Big and Little Sisters!

Our Big Futures Highlight: Little Sister Sara Wins Music Scholarship

Big Sister's Our Big Futures program provides individualized coaching, guidance, and resources to Little Sisters, age 14 - 24, in support of post-secondary education and career development. Through our community partnerships, we are often able to connect our Little Sisters with scholarships that support their future educational goals. 

Little Sister Sara, who has been matched with Big Sister Kayla since 2015, was recently awarded the Patricia Callan Mu Phi Epsilon Music Grant. The grant provides Sara, who is a Junior at Boston Arts Academy studying voice/singing, with nine one-hour private voice lessons.

Big thanks to Big Sister Aleena, who connected us with this opportunity, and to the Boston Alumni Chapter of Mu Phi Epsilon, an International Professional Music Fraternity that seeks to advance music in the community, nation, and world through the promotion of musicianship, scholarship, therapy, and education, with an emphasis on service through music.

Donate Your Gently Used Items!

Out with the old, in with the new? The new year is the perfect time to clean out those closets! Donate your gently used clothing and household items to the Big Brother Big Sister Foundation. 

Got Connections? 

Big Sister Boston is always looking for spaces to make our match activities and big events special! Do you have a connection to a hotel, museum, cultural center, or other venue? Contact Natalie at nfenwick@bigsister.org so we can learn more about it!