Philadelphia, PA. - July 8, 2008 - Sharron Barton (center), Chief Administrative Officer of Arby's Restaurant Group, Inc., receives Big Brothers Big Sisters of America's Charles G. Berwind Lifetime Achievement Award.

The award recognizes outstanding volunteer leaders within the Big Brothers Big Sisters movement. Barton accepted the award at the organization's national conference in St. Louis last week from Big Brothers Big Sisters of America President and Chief Executive Officer Judy Vredenburgh (left of Barton) and Kate Snow (right of Barton), co-anchor of ABC News' Good Morning America Weekend Edition and a Big Brothers Big Sisters of America board member.

Arby's has been Big Brothers Big Sisters' largest and longest corporate partner, supporting efforts in cities throughout the country for more than 20 years. She has served as board chair of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta and as a member of the organization's national board of directors. While a national board member, Barton led a task force that successfully completed a reorganization of the Big Brothers Big Sisters governance structure.

For more information on the Big Brothers Big Sisters movement and how you can get involved with Changing How Our Children Grow Up in America, please contact BigBrothersBigSisters.org.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America

Big Brothers Big Sisters, BigBrothersBigSisters.org, is the largest youth mentoring organization in the United States. With nearly 400 affiliates across all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Guam, it served 255,000 children in 2007 - more than twice the number of five years ago. Independent research shows that its model of professionally supported one-to-one relationships between young people and their Big Brothers and Big Sisters has a measurable, positive impact. Children in the program are less likely to skip school, begin using alcohol and illegal drugs, and be involved in violence. Big Brothers Big Sisters works with policymakers and community leaders across the country to expand access to mentoring for children in need. The organization is currently focusing on recruiting Big Brothers, especially African-Americans and Hispanics.

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