By CONNOR O’SHAUGHNESSY
Marketing Communications Coordinator, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Indiana

Fort Wayne — Little moments make big magic. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Indiana honored those volunteers who have brought that magic into a child’s life Thursday, July 23, at Hotel Fort Wayne, 305 E. Washington Center Road, Fort Wayne.

Big Brothers Big Sisters will honored award nominees from 13 counties in several program categories:

• Big Brother of the Year: Rick Hoffmann, Scott Lechner, Brad Stiles, Adam Blakey, Dan Boykins, Tahl Glass and Michael Aleman
• Big Sister of the Year: Maggie Lambert, Nancy Wilkins, Jeanne Zehr, Lori Mark and Laura Frederick
• Big Couple of the Year: Matt and Abby Brandenberger; April Gardner and Jessica Graves; Ed and Terry Stuczynski; and Ryan and Satin Lemon
• School Buddy of the Year: Bob Hall, Barry Wampler, Linda Leighty, Rick Robertson and Peggy Sebert.

Laura Frederick was named the Big Sister of the year. Big Brother of the year was awarded to Adam Blakey. Ryan and Satin Lemon received the “Big Couple of the Year” award. Bob Hall received the “School Buddy of the Year” award.

The panel of judges were as follows: Eric Johnson, Tuthill Transfer Systems; Jason Knothe, JH Specialty; Gary Hamilton, Fort Wayne Police Department Chief; Kathy Callen, Old National Bank; Heather Henrickson, Kohl’s; Michael Zahn, First Federal Savings Bank; Doug Roth, Do It Best Corp.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Indiana is a nonprofit organization that serves children in Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Huntington, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Wells, and Whitley counties in Indiana and Branch, Hillsdale and St. Joseph counties in Michigan. Big Brothers Big Sister’s mission is to help children reach their potential through professionally supported one to one relationships with measureable impact. Learn how you can positively impact a child’s life, donate or volunteer at www.BBBSNEI.org.