Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County & the Inland Empire (BBBS OC/IE) has announced a special regional awareness campaign under the theme “It Takes a Village” in association with national Big Brothers Big Sisters Month in September. The campaign emphasizes the power of community involvement in supporting youth on their path to growth and accomplishment.
Every September, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and its local agencies celebrate the impact of the organization and its mission to connect more young people with a mentor. This year, Big Brothers Big Sisters continues to mark the power of mentorship as the key to building a brighter future for youth as an essential infrastructure for the community’s future and the future of young people. It is focused on four fundamental pillars: mental and emotional wellbeing, educational achievement, economic mobility, and positive behaviors and development.
According to the organization, a society where every young person has a mentor is a society invested in its own potential. In fact, on a national level, BBBS Littles report high academic attainment (20% more likely to enroll in college), higher earnings than their non-mentored peers (15% more over their lifetimes), and BBBS Littles’ income aligns more closely with their mentors than their family of origin.
“The matches we create to help the youth in our community thrive and succeed are at the core of what we do. But we also want people to understand that Big Brothers Big Sisters is so much more than the match,” said BBBS OC/IE CEO Sloane Keane. “We generate results and genuine impact when the entire community rallies around the goal of creating and supporting mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of the next generation.”
A BBBS Big can make a powerful difference in a young person’s life, but no one person should have to do it alone. Highlighted during the campaign will be the wraparound services, opportunities and resources that surround every match. Those services encompass:
- Match events
- Parent trainings
- College and career workshops
- Community resource connections
- Leadership opportunities
- Family support
- Volunteer training and support
The organization is also inviting donors to help support the village that helps youth and families thrive during the primary fundraising period of Sept. 21-30, 2026. To kick off the fundraising component, a $10,000 matching gift for Orange County has been received from Laguna Beach residents Jen and Cliff Cheng and The Cheng Family Foundation in addition to an anonymous matching gift of the same amount for the Inland Empire.
At the local level, BBBS OC/IE supported more than 3,500 mentoring matches during fiscal year 2026. Among Littles surveyed, 79% reported improved mental health, 80% improved academic performance, and 87% said they were less likely to engage in risky behaviors. Additionally, 91% of graduating seniors went on to attend college, 92% of whom were first-generation students.
To learn more about participating in the BBBS OC/IE “It Takes a Village” campaign, go here.
The organization is actively seeking volunteers to be mentors. Learn more at www.ocbigs.org and www.iebigs.org.