Big Brothers Big Sisters Rotorua mentors David Remmerswaal (left) and Sam Hulton. Photo / Shauni James
Big Brothers Big Sisters Rotorua mentors David Remmerswaal (left) and Sam Hulton. Photo / Shauni James
A local charitable organisation is asking for males to put their hands up to help make a positive difference in a young one's life, while also having a heap of fun.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Rotorua (BBBS Rotorua) is a charitable organisation committed to building healthy futures for Rotorua's tamariki through mentoring friendships.
The programme matches children aged 6 to 11 with adult mentors in a professionally and culturally supported one-to-one relationship.
Over the course of a year, they meet once a week building trust and friendship.
BBBS Rotorua currently has five boys who could be matched right now if there were males willing to put up their hands up as mentors.
He says everyone has a different passion and for him, it is about investing his time into the future: our children.
"I was thinking about things I could do and it really stood out as something that matched my values and would be a great use of my time."
Sam says mentoring with the organisation has been a lot of fun and he has been matched "with an awesome fella".
"It's been lots of fun seeing Israel grow and has been a positive experience."
He says he and Israel spend time doing a variety of things such as going out and kicking the soccer ball around, going to Motion Entertainment, going to the trampoline park and playing mini-golf.
"We try to make the most of everything Rotorua has to offer, always. There's always something interesting to do."
Sam encourages other males to consider becoming mentors for BBBS Rotorua because it is a small investment for great return.
"If you really care about the future of New Zealand and our community then giving up an hour of your time to ensure one little individual has a positive role model isn't a huge amount of time, and you're contributing to that person's life."
He says the team at BBBS Rotorua is doing an amazing job.
David Remmerswaal has been a mentor to Logan through BBBS Rotorua for about four-and-a-half years.
He says when he first started he did not think the mentorship would go for this long, but it kept going - the minimum time for a mentoring partnership is a year.
"I get just as much out of it, if not more, than Logan does because he's into heaps of cool things.
"He's been in lots of productions and plays, and he just wrote a script for a short movie and cast me and my friend in it. We had to turn up at the location and be part of his movie."
David encourages other male mentors to get on board because there is such a demand for these mentors.
"It's an awesome way to be part of a community organisation, and it's a lot of fun.
"It's not a huge commitment of time and you do things that you both enjoy."
Joof Schaeffers has been mentoring Lincoln for nearly two-and-a-half years.
"The mentoring has been fun. It's had its challenges but it is very rewarding. I've enjoyed every little bit."
Joof says activities they get up to include little jobs around his lifestyle block, and Lincoln loves swimming so in summer they often go for swims at the lake.
He says for him it is rewarding to see that as a mentor you can instill certain values in a kid in a relatively small amount of time: "I think that's a nice thing to be able to do and give back to families a little bit less fortunate".
Those interested in becoming BBBS mentors can contact Darryl Parker at darryl.parker@bigbrothersbigsisters.org.nz or go to bigbrothersbigsisters.org.nz/rotorua.html for more information.
