Big brothers big sisters of tampa BAY's (BBBSTB) mission is simple and built on research and evidence-based practices as well as decades of experience

Our mission is to create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth. We achieve this by partnering with parents/guardians, volunteers, donors and other member of the community and by holding ourselves accountable for each child in our program achieving: (I) higher aspirations, greater confidence and better relationships, (II) avoidance of risky behaviors, and (III) educational success. BBBSTB has been providing one-to-one mentoring services since 1964, and strengthening our communities through these high-quality, life-enriching, one-to-one relationships for youth, by pairing them with caring, screened, trained, and professionally supported adult volunteers. Our mentoring programs are evidence-based, and outcome driven and we're proud of the way our programs have helped all youth achieve their full potential! All volunteers under the rsvp expansion grant will engage in one-to-one mentoring in either a community- or school-based setting. Volunteers will make a commitment of at least 15 month for community-based and one year for school-based, though on average most matches are together two years. School-based volunteers will serve at one of the three schools already engaged in sumter county, FL (volunteer stations), and BBBSTB will serve as the station for community-based mentoring. The primary focus area of this project is education, specifically serving economically disadvantaged youth. At the end of this three-year grant, a minimum of eighty-three youth will have been served in school and community-based mentoring by rsvp volunteers, with the outcome of improved academic engagement. The applicant share of total budget will be $35,179. This represents cash donations via private revenue sources. The agency's private revenue sources include individual giving, corporate support, and special events. Unrestricted funds will be utilized to support this project throughout the year.