PHILADELPHIA, April 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Big Brothers Big Sisters will take time to recognize and thank its mentors and donors during National Volunteer Week 2009 (April 19-25) as record numbers of volunteer inquiries are creating an increased demand for money to mentor more children. Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies are holding community events throughout the week to recognize those who help some of America’s most vulnerable children beat the odds.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, the nation’s largest network of volunteers providing mentoring to youth in America, serves children from single-parent homes, families living in poverty, and households where a parent is incarcerated. Independent research finds children mentored by Big Brothers Big Sisters volunteers are more likely than their peers to be successful educationally and socially. Donations are used for volunteer recruitment, background checks, careful matching, continuous monitoring, ongoing match support, and dedicated service to volunteers, families and children to ensure positive outcomes. Big Brothers Big Sisters of America consistently receives a four out of four star rating from Charity Navigator for organizational efficiency and capacity.

"With more families expected to face poverty, there is a greater need for the service our volunteers and professional staff provide. The good news for volunteers looking to mentor children in long-term professionally supported friendships is that individual donors, corporations and foundations are still committed to investing in top notch charities that make a difference and can prove it," said Big Brothers Big Sisters of America President and CEO Judy Vredenburgh.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America's supporters include, but are not limited to:

Corporate Partners

• America Eagle Outfitters
  
• Arby's
  
• Clinique
  
• Comcast
  
• Do it Best
  
• Great Wolf Resorts, Inc.
  
• HSBC
  
• Jack-In-the-Box
  
• Minor League Baseball
  
• Rent-A-Center

• The Annie E. Casey Foundation
  
• The ARAMARK Charitable Fund
  
• The Atlantic Philanthropies
  
• Bank of America Charitable Foundation
  
• Cargill Foundation
  
• The Duke Endowment
  
• The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation
  
• The FAO Schwarz Family Foundation
  
• The Goizueta Foundation
  
• MCJ Foundation
  
• MetLife Foundation
  
• Philip Morris USA, an Altria Company
  
• The UPS Foundation
  
• Wachovia
  
• The Walton Family Foundation
  
• William T. Grant Foundation

• Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
  
• U.S. Department of Education
  
• U .S. Department of Health and Human Services

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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