Pictured, from left, are Cassie Peyton and Karen Mayer, from TCU of Warsaw, and Sue Poyner of Winona Lake from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Indiana.

KOSCIUSKO — Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Indiana received $2,000 from Teachers Credit Union Foundation for program support for both community-based and site-based school buddies programs in Kosciusko and Huntington counties. 

Funding from the TCU Foundation will be used for recruiting, screening and training adult volunteers who will be paired in these one-to-one relationships with at-risk children in Kosciusko and Huntington counties. The community-based program is the traditional mentoring effort that pairs children with responsible and consistent adult mentors in the community. The adult volunteer and child share fun activities like playing catch, going to the zoo, or baking cookies. These matches meet two to four times each month during the year.

The site-based school buddies program matches elementary students with caring adult mentors.  Buddies meet once a week for lunch at the child’s school during the academic year. The agenda is simple: eating lunch, doing homework, reading books, playing games or simply spending time together talking about life. The time commitment is small, one hour once a week, but the benefit to the child is huge.