big brothers big sisters of northern new mexico 2011

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of NortherN New Mexico 2011

t h e S AN tA f e N ew M e x i c AN w w w. S A N tA f e N e wM e x i cA N. c o M

B I G

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2 I Big Brothers/Big Sisters 2011

ANDREA FISHER MARIL, CEOChris Alexander • Diana Bynum • Carissa Eret • Kim Dasso

Christy Ficke • Cheryl Johnson • Marion Langan

Sarah Luginbuhl • Felicia Martinez • Monica Martinez

Emily Pacheco • Jordan Reed • Maggie Romigh

Ron Ruybal • Lois Stagner • Tashima Wildrose

REGIONAL BOARDConnor Browne, President

Kimberly Motola, Vice PresidentRandy Dry, Co-Secretary

Melanie MacGillvray, Co-Secretary

Heather Brady, Treasurer

Chip Chippeaux • Timothy Farrell • Cathy Fernandez

Phyllis Gonzales • Katherine Jetter • Larry Jobe

John Lucero • Joseph Maestas • Thomas Odai

Ashlynn Perry • Robin Smith

LOS ALAMOS COUNTY RESOURCE BOARD Art Brown • Liz Cavasos, Chair

BK Kapernick • Kelly Myers • Dr. Cedric Page

McKINLEY COUNTY RESOURCE BOARDRebecca Apel • Susan Eddy, Co-Chair

Cayce Garcia • Chris Gartner

Ata Lth Chee Montaño • Alice Perez, Co-Chair

SAN MIGUEL/MORA RESOURCE BOARD

Sharon Garcia, Chair•

Lisa Griego•

Vincent Howell, Vice-ChairTom McDonald • Shirley Vigil, Secretary

SANTA FE RESOURCE BOARDKris Axtell • Jane Bernard • Nicola Butler

Ben Chavarria, chair • Bernadette Garcia • Peter Lovato

Julie Roybal Robinson • Taryn M. Teves

BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERSof Northern New Mexico

983-8360

1229 St. Francis Drive, Suite C • Santa Fe

www.bbbsnorthernnm.org



2 Meet the bard, staff

4 Raising mney, raising awareness

6 Native initiative cntinues t grw

8 Bwling fr fun

11 All the details fr the

2011 Bwl fr Kids’ Sake12 Michael Cllins: Big Brther f the Year

13 Jane Dunstn: Schl Big f the Year

14 Karen McHughs: Big Sister f the Year

16 The Magic f Mentring

Table f CntentsDesign Lri Jhnsn

Cover Photo Luis Sánchez SaturnGuru Simran Khalsa celebrates with her lunch buddy,

Taishanna Sanchez, 11, after picking up eight pins during

last year’s Bowl for Kids’ Sake at the Strike Gold Lanes.

Editor and Publisher Rbin Martin

Associate Publisher Ginny Shn

Managing Editor Rb Dean

Magazine Editor Inez Russell986-3093 [email protected]

Art Director for Magazines Debrah Villa986-3027, [email protected]

Copy Editor Mike Csgrve986-3024

Director of Photography Clyde Mueller

986-3047 Advertising Director Je Vigil986-3007

Technology Director Mike Campbell

Operations Director Al Waldrn

Assistant Production Director Tim Cramer

Pre-Press Manager Dan Gmez

Press Manager Larry Quintana

Packaging Manager Brian Schultz

Web Editor Henry M. Lpez

www.santafenewmeican.cm

The Santa Fe New Mexican202 East Marcy Street Mnday-Friday 8 a.m.- 5 p.m.

Advertising Information 505-986-3082Delivery 505-984-0363; 800-873-3372For Copies of the Magazine 505-490-0316

Published March 12, 2011

983-8360 / bbbsnorthernnm.org I 3

oF NoRTHERN NEW MExICo 2011

B I G

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RAISING AWARENESS

By Todd Bailey

ost Santa Fe area nonprot organiza-

tions have years to plan and prepare for

the Mayor’s Ball, an annual fund-rais-ing event. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northern

New Mexico had just six months to get ready because of another group’s cancellation.

“Yeah, it was pretty crazy around here,” said

the group’s Chief Development Ocer Monica

Martinez. “We had so much to do and not alot of time to get it done. We got a number of

people involved, created several committees

and got to work.”

When people who attended the fall gala look

back at the event, one message seems clear: Big

Brothers, Big Sisters knows how to accomplisha task (and throw a party). Te 2010 event sold

out and even had a waiting list of potential

party-goers.

“It was the most successful event in the

32-year history of our organization,” Martinez

said. “We ended up raising $220,000 and it cre-

ated a lot of awareness for the organization.We ended up recruiting some Bigs and two

board members.”

“Our board and sta rose to the occasion,”

saidAndreaFisherMaril,CEOofBigBrothers

Big Sisters of Northern New Mexico. “I talked

to someone recently who attended the May-

or’s Ball, and he said it was the best he had everbeen to.”

Fisher Maril always has wanted the organi-zation to host a gala since she arrived 11 years

ago, and from a one-time event a tradition is

being born. Te work to organize a Mayor’s

Ball has given Big Brothers Big Sisters theblueprint to host an annual gala, giving the

organization the opportunity to showcase to

the public what it does.

“We are unlike Te Boys and Girls Club or

NDI (National Dance Institute) where there

is an event you can attend and see the kidsin action,” Fisher Maril said. “With a gala, we

can have some of the Bigs and Littles speak to

the people there.”

Another benet from the Mayor’s Ball has

been gaining additional community support.

Fisher Maril said she understands that with a

national economy climbing out of recessionand a state government facing its own eco-

nomic troubles, some past funding sources

have shrunk. Tat’s where the added support

comes in.

Mayor David Coss, with Little Grace at the 2010 Mayor’s Ball. All photos by Genevieve Russell




FORCE FOR CHANGE

he Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northern

New Mexico Native American Initia-tive is a force for change.

e program never had much of a pres-

ence in the Native community until the ini-

tiative started in 2007 with the creation of

21 matches. By the end of 2010, that number

has risen to 107. Most of those matches come

from McKinley County, which has the larg-est number of Native Americans in Northern

New Mexico.

“We saw a real need for a mentoring pro-gram within the Native American commu-

nity, so we shied our focus,” said Big Broth-

ers Big Sisters of Northern New Mexico CEOAndrea Fisher Maril. “We had just completed

a successful Hispanic Initiative and we hoped

that lightning would strike twice.”

Lightning struck again through the hard

work and dedication from a growing number

of Native employees, volunteers and boardmembers.

“The population of McKinley County is

76 percent Native American,” said Fisher

Maril. “So we gured that to be successful, wehad to make sure that 76 percent of the vol-

unteers and employees were Native American

as well.”

Bringing a new social service to an area can

be dicult because there is no sense of trust.

Yet Ata Lth Chee Montaño, chairman for

the McKinley County Resource Board, saidthe idea of having Native American workers

and volunteers has made the relationship-

building process with the community easier.“What makes it hard sometimes is that

families stick to themselves a lot,” Montaño

said. “We have to ask all kinds of questionsand do background checks on adults and

sometimes there are parents who don’t want

that, because they don’t understand the need.

But if you can get past that and explain to

them how necessary the interview process is,

you can gain their trust. And if you do that,then you become a part of their family.”

e organization has implemented several

By Todd Bailey

Cooking is a fun activity for both Bigs and Littles. Courtesy photo.




P l a y i n g g a m e s i s a f u n a c t i v i t y f o r B i g s a n d Li t t l e s , i n c l u d i n g B r y c e t o n

a n d K y l e .

strategies for success. One is the improvementof relations and the growth of awareness with

the community’s governing body. Leonard

Joe, a former program specialist, is the orga-

nization’s liaison with the New Mexico Native

American Advisory Council. He has been apart of presentations to Navajo chapter housesfor the purpose of developing a deeper con-

nection with the Native community.

e idea is that by creating matches involv-

ing Native adults and children, there is great

opportunity for Native cultures and customs

to be passed down to younger generations.“ey have the ability to keep our culture

alive through their teachings,” Joe said. “It

can become a great resource for our people.ey have this perception that there are other

more established organizations like Boys and

Girls Clubs with mentoring programs. Butthe truth is there isn’t. We are the only ones

who can help keep our culture and traditions

alive through mentoring. at is the message

that I try to convey to the council.”

Another strategy is the creation of a mar-

keting campaign focusing on creating Native

American matches.Sarah Luginbuhl is the McKinley County

community coordinator, overseeing recruit-

ment, public relations and fundraising for the

McKinley County area. She is a native of Gal-

lup and uses that knowledge to her benet.

“I know more about what’s going on here,”

Luginbuhl said. “ere is a bit of mistrust be-cause this program has never been here before.

As more people know about it, more families

get involved. And that makes our jobs easier

and our goals more reachable.”

Trust is another struggle for the organizationand the Eight Northern Indian Pueblos CouncilInc. e council is a nonprot organization

that includes the Tesuque, San Ildefonso,

Santa Clara, Taos, Ohkay Owingeh, Nambé,

Pojoaque and Picuris Pueblos. Fisher Maril

said that in the past, the council allowed other

social services to help its community only tosee things backre.

“ey would come in with their grant money,

provide some service and then go away justwhen they have established their expecta-

tions,” Fisher Maril said. “When you can get

someone to open their doors to you, they have to believe that you are going to be seri-

ous in the services you provide.”

Still, progress has been made. An active

program is up and running in Pojoaque. Po-

joaque Elementary is involved with a high

school Big program and the organization has

a resource board chairman who is a formersta member of the Eight Northern Indian

Pueblos Council.

“We continue to convince the pueblos that

we are not going anywhere,” Fisher Maril said.

“We are in this for the long run. We have made

strides but we have a long way to go.”o

T a r a Y a z z i e a n d J e s s i c a h a v e m a d e a m a t c h. C o

u r t e s y p h o t o.




A SIMPLE MISSION

ver the past three decades, Big BrothersBig Sisters of Northern New Mexico

has used bowling to help fund the

organization and also to bring awareness

to its mission. But there is one other thingparticipants should do for the 28th Bowl for

Kids’ Sake this year: Have fun.“It is one of the most enjoyable times of the

year for anyone involved with Big Brothers

Big Sisters,” said Monica Martinez, chief de-

velopment ocer for Big Brothers Big Sisters

of Northern New Mexico. “e whole event

is a big party. ere is fun and laughter, food

and prizes and, of course, bowling.”

e organization manages Big Brothers BigSisters matches from McKinley County in the

west to Santa Fe, Los Alamos, Rio Arriba andTaos counties all the way to San Miguel and

Mora counties up north. As such, the North-

ern New Mexico chapter has ve scheduled

bowling events.e ve events raised more than $94,000 in

donations, and featured 158 teams for a total of 528 bowlers in 2010. at is the largest num-

ber of participants since the event started in

Northern New Mexico. But organizers believe

that number doesn’tcome close torelaying how

many people were made aware of Big Brothers

Big Sisters because of the bowling event.

“We probably brought awareness of what

we do to about 6,800 people,” said Ron Ruy-bal, event coordinator for Big Brothers Big

By Todd Bailey

Nancy Udell and her Little, Amy, are pleased with their bowl. All photos by Luis Sánchez Saturno




Sisters of Northern New Mexico. “Te Bowlfor Kids’ Sake has consistently been one of

our top awareness-raising events each year.”

Organizers are hoping that last year’s suc-

cess will reap rewards in 2011. Goal totals for

this year are 170 teams, Ruybal said. If eachmember can get nine people to pledge, thatwill spread the awareness of the organization

to approximately 7,650 people.

“Our gures show that it costs about $1,000

to support a match for a year,” Ruybal said. “If

we raise $150,000, which is our goal this year,

we can match another 150 kids in NorthernNew Mexico to a Big Brother or Big Sister.”

Te need for the money is one thing. Te

need for awareness is just as important whenconsidering the number of children who are

waiting to be matched.

“We currently have about 70 boys in North-ern New Mexico on the list,” Martinez said.

“We don’t have a lot of girls on our waiting

list because the majority of the people who

volunteer to be Bigs are women. What the

awareness portion of the Bowl for Kids’ Sakedoes is, it helps recruit more adults to ourmission.”

Te state employee event and the two com-

munity bowls will take place at Pojoaque’s

Strike Gold Lanes. In previous years, the state

bowl was hosted by former rst lady Barbara

Richardson and this year, rst gentlemanChuck Franco will be helping with the event.

Changes to this year’s Community Bowl could

make participation easier to schedule.“We took out the town designations and

made them all community bowls,” Ruybal

A good bo w l is cause for ce le bra t ionfor Guru S imran K ha lsa and her lunc h budd y,

Ta is hanna Sanc he z.

E d gar F i c k e - And e r s o n d anc e s w i t h B i g B r o t he r s B i g S i s t e r s s t af f e r

C ar i s s a E r e t d ur i ng l as t y e ar ’s B o w l f o r K i d s ’ S ak e .


“It is one of the

most enjoyable times

of the year for

anyone involved

with Big Brothers

Big Sisters”

—Monica Martinez




Jo lene Va lde z and Brandon. P ho to b y Lu is Sa turno Sa nc he z.

Perfect form is important in bowling. Luis Saturno Sa´nchez.

said. “Now the bowlers can choose which

event best ts their schedule.”Since Las Vegas, N.M. has no bowling alley,

the statook a chance ona boardmember’s idea

of creating a Wii bowling event. It paid o as,

23 teams competed on seven Wii devices. Tis

year Ruybal said there will be two sessions to

the event with a participation goal of 30 teams.

“We took the wood panels from the ball-room’s dance oor and created these bowling

lanes,” Ruybal said. “We didn’t know how it

was going to work, but it turned out to besuch a success and fun time for everyone.”

Sarah Luginbuhl, the McKinley County

community coordinator, began organizing

the Gallup event in January.

“We are looking at having a great event,”

Luginbuhl. “Te best part of these bowling

events is seeing all the fun the Littles have. Itis such a fun time for everyone.”o

“Te Bowl for

Kids’ Sake has

consistently been

one of our top

awareness raising events each year.”

—Ron Ruybal



BOWL FOR KIDS’ SAKE 2011 APRIL 3

The First Gentleman’s Bowl at Strike Gold Lanes in Pojoaque. 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m.

APRIL 9 & 10Community Bowl for Santa Fe, Española, Pojoaque and Los Alamos

at Strike Gold Lanes in Pojoaque.

10 a.m., 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m. April 9 and 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m. April 10.

APRIL 16Gallup Community Bowl at Gal-a-Bowl, 3:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m.

MAY 15With Wii Community Bowl at the Historic Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas, N.M.

HOW TO REGISTERBig Brothers Big Sisters has a team packet with instructions on how to sign up for

the Bowl for Kids’ Sake events. Team captains can obtain the packet by visiting theagency’s office at 1229 S. St. Francis Drive Suite C, Santa Fe, by going online to

www.bbbs.org, or by having one mailed to them. Call the office at 505-983-8360

for more information.

The packet includes a team roster, details on which community bowl session a team

wishes to attend and pledging information. The registration deadline is 24 hours

before any session, although event organizers ask teams to send in their informa-

tion promptly to secure their desired session.The sessions are filled on a first-come,

first-serve basis. Team captains can fax their team forms to 505-983-1280.




BIG BROTHER MICHAEL COLLINS

ichael Collins already knew his little

brother when he joined Big Brothers

BigSistersofNorthernNewMexico.He

was a mentor to then-11-year-old James, whowas attending Salazar Elementary School.

“I would go there during school time and

help him with his school work, and then wewould go to the gym and shoot baskets and

just talk,” said the 68-year-old Collins. “When

school ended that year, we wanted to stay in touch, so we both joined Big Brothers Big

Sisters.”

In the eight years since he joined, Collins has

helped James through a number of troubling

times, including the death of James’ mother

when he was 15. Ten came James’ subsequent

move to Los Lunas to live with family and an-other move to join Job Corps, a free education

and training program in Albuquerque that

helps young people learn a career.

James, now 18, is learning a trade in con-

struction and is on pace to get his high school

diploma.Trough it all, the two remained in touch.

Because of those years of dedication, Collins

was named the 2010 Big Brother of the Year.

“It was pretty exciting when I found out

about the award because I got the call on

my birthday,” said Collins, a retired planner

from the New Mexico Children, Youth and

Families Department. “It was nice of them to

honor me with this award, but it’s never beenabout me, it’s always been about the kids.”

Collins said that his relationship with James

grew strong because of regular visits, includ-ing frequent trips to Subway and playing all

types of sports.

“I got to be pretty good at playing football,soccer and basketball,” Collins said.

But their relationship grew its closest when

James and Collins found James’ mother dead

in their home. She died from complications

with her prescription medicine during an ill-

ness.

“I think I needed to be there for him whenthat happened,” Collins said. “He was 15 and

had just lost the only parent he knew. Tat

was hard for him. I seriously thought about

adopting him, but his family wanted to take

care of him.”

Te past eight years, Collins said, have beena gi. In fact, when James calls Collins his

mentor, Collins feels the exact opposite.

“I have learned so much from him that he

is my mentor,” Collins said of James. “It truly

has been a great experience.”o

By Todd Bailey

Michael and his former Little, James, have been a pair for eight years. Courtesy photo.




SCHOOL BIG JANE DUNSTON

ane Dunston spent 18 years working at

a middle school in Illinois before she re-

tired in 1998.

She had two goals with her newfound free-

dom. One was to move away from the coldwinters and hot, humid summers of Chicago.

Te other was to get back to helping kids.

“I enjoy young people,” Dunston said. “I like

to see them succeed. I would rather be doing

that than to be doing something else.”Aer relocating to Santa Fe, Dunston spent

10 years as a school mentor. She would ndsome frustration with the program aer driv-

ing to Santa Fe from her Eldorado home, only

to discover that the child she was mentoring

wasn’t at school that day. When she discov-

ered that Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northern

New Mexico had a school-based program atEl Dorado school, she quickly joined.

One person who is thankful for that deci-

sion is the third-grader who has been Dun-

ston’s Little since she was in kindergarten. As

a school-based Big, Dunston visits her Little

at school once a week.

“We spend about 45 minutes together when

I visit,” Dunston said. “We read together andplay some games. It’s really whatever she

wants. If she wants to talk about something,

she does, I just sit and listen. My role is to be

as nonjudgmental as I can and to make her

feel good about herself.”Dunston said she was surprised when she re-

ceived the news of being named 2010 SchoolBased Big of the Year because she has only

been volunteering with Big Brothers Big Sis-

ters of Northern New Mexico for three years.

“Some people have been with this program

much longer than I have,” Dunston said. “It’s

nice and I am honored to receive this award,but I am not doing this so that I can win an

award. I do it because I care about her. I care

about today’s kids.”o

By Todd Bailey

School Big Jane Dunston. Photo by Natalie Guillén.




BIG SISTER KAREN McHUGHS

ne smile is all it took. Just one. Karen

McHughs had been thinking about par-

ticipating in a mentoring program LosAlamos National Labs had with a Los Ala-

mos elementary school. A co-worker told her

about the fun she had visiting the school andspending time with her Little. So, one day,

McHughs joined and met a kindergartner

named Dixie.“She was a tiny peanut,” McHughs said. “But

she had this beautiful smile. And the rst time

I saw it, I was hooked. When I would go and

see her, she would smile and jump into my

arms. It was so wonderful.”

McHughs would see Dixie once a week, but

soon Dixie wanted to spend more time to-gether. Tere were weekends where the two

went shopping or spent time cooking.

“Her mother wasn’t in her life at that time,

and she lived with her father, who is such a

wonderful man,” McHughs said. “He contact-ed Big Brothers Big Sisters when he realized

that Dixie needed a woman in her life.”

But what McHughs didn’t realize was that

she needed Dixie as well.

“Tere was something missing in my life,”

McHughs said. “Tat enthusiasm. Tat point

of view that a child brings to the world. I

missed that when my kids got older and on

their own. I got a little lonely and meeting Di-xie gave me a chance to be with kids again. It

has enriched my life.”

Seven years later, times have changed. Dixie,now 13, doesn’t jump into McHughs’ arms

anymore and they meet monthly instead of

weekly. Dixie, who is in middle school, is involved with all sorts of school activities. But

McHughs said that whenever the two get to-

gether, it’s as though time has stood still.

“She sings a lot and spends time with her

friends, you know, doing things that teenag-

ers do,” McHughs said. “But when we get to-

gether, we still have so much fun. She is sucha wonderful young lady. I can’t call her a child

anymore. She is growing up so nicely.”

McHughs was surprised when she found out

she had been named the Big Sister of the Year

for 2010. She gave all of the credit to Dixie.“Living in Los Alamos, there are people

here who are changing the world,” McHughs

said. “I am not one of those people. But I can

make a dierence for one child in the world. I

know I can do that. And I couldn’t have done

any of it without Dixie.”o

By Todd Bailey

Karen McHughs and Dixie, who have been matched since Dixie was in kindergarten. Courtesy photo.





C hr i s t i an w i t h hi s B i g, M as s i mo Lo r e nz i ni .

C o ur t e s y p ho t o s .

Amy Catanach and her Little, Alondra, enjoy a laugh.

A n t h o n y Ja ram i l l o a nd h i s L i t t le, I sa ia h, a re a l l sm i le s.

According to the Northern New Mexico chapter,

THERE ARE MORE THAN 80 CHILDREN

currently enrolled with the organization

WHO LACK A MATCH



MENTOR MAGIC

hy volunteer? Aer all, it’s easy to

nd a reason to avoid making a com-

mitment to a child: A lack of money

or time; or the fear of not becoming a good

role model. Tere is also this fear of commit-ting to something that may not be worth it.

Employees and volunteers of Big Brothers

Big Sisters of Northern New Mexico have

heard them all.

“And we have an answer for each of them as

well,” said Carissa Eret, marketing coordina-

tor for Big Brothers Big Sisters of NorthernNew Mexico. “It’s all about breaking down

that barrier. Tat wall. Once we are able to

show them that they have no reason to fear,they give it a shot.”

Being a mentor to a little doesn’t take a lot

of time; about one or two hours a week. Tattime can come during the high school bas-

ketball game you were already planning to

attend; or perhaps, be during a shopping ex-

cursion at the mall, looking for that particular

pair of shoes you’ve wanted.

“Tere are no routines,” said Sarah Lugin-buhl, Big Brothers Big Sisters community co-

ordinator for McKinley County. “People have

to eat lunch, right? Why not share it with a

Little once a week at their school? It’s only for

a few times a month, and it is so exible.”

Tere are two ways adults can be a mentor.

School-based mentors spend an hour a week with Littles at their schools. Community-

based matches can meet from several hours a

week to two to four times a month.

“We also match high school kids with Lit-

tles from the elementary schools,” said CEO

Andrea Fisher Maril. “It’s proven to be suc-

cessful in some of our outlying communitieslike Pecos. We are hoping that when the high

school kids graduate, they will be willing to

become community Bigs. And when the el-ementary kids get into high school, they will

become high school Bigs.”

According to the Northern New Mexicochapter, there are more than 80 children cur-

rently enrolled with the organization who

lack a match. Tese children live from Las Vegas,

N.M. to Gallup. And an overwhelming number

of them are boys.

“Italwaysseemshardertorecruitadultmales,”said Fisher Maril. “I don’t know if it is a guy

thing. I don’t know if the thinking is that they

By Todd Bailey

Men tors ha ve more fun t han t he k ids...


...a s t h e y r e c a p t u r e a b i t o f t h e i r y o u t h . P h o t o s

b y J a n e B e r n a r d



would not be able to work with kids. It’s just ashame. Mentoring is such a big deal, especial-

ly to boys in New Mexico. You see the amount

of trouble today’s youth gets into. A mentor

can help with that.”

Volunteer Michael Collins believes that. erelationship between his Little and him grewfollowing the death of his Little’s mother and

a subsequent move to Los Lunas. Today Col-

lins’ Little lives in Albuquerque and is train-

ing for a career in construction.

“I believe if I hadn’t been there, things may

have turned out dierently,” Collins said. “Yet,these relationships can be so rewarding and it

doesn’t take a lot from you. I am so happy to

have done this.”All volunteers are screened, which in-

cludes an interview, a background check

and a review of references. Chief Develop-ment Ocer Monica Martinez said that the

organization asks for a commitment of at

least one year. Anything less could damage

the child.

“We work very hard to keep the match go-

ing during that rst year,” Martinez said. “We

check in constantly with the Big and the Little just to make sure that things are going well.

When it’s not, we do what we can to x theproblem. Most oen, it’s a lack of communi-

cation between the two.”

Mentoring isn’t for everyone, yet there are

still other ways to help. In 2010, the organiza-

tion hosted one of the most successful May-or’s Ball events in city history and the grouphopes to match that success with this year’s

gala. To do that, volunteers are needed.

Raising two small children with his wife,

Randy Dry never thought he would have time

to be a mentor, but knew he wanted to help

the organization.“I was a donor for three years solely be-

cause of name recognition,” Dry said. “I knew

this organization helped kids. But when I sawrsthand the kind of work they do, I was in-

trigued and wanted to help.”

He became a regional board member almosttwo years ago. He also is co-chair of Pojoaque’s

three Bowl For Kids’ Sake events in April.

“I am glad to be involved,” he said. “I have

taken an opportunity to work on things that

have a signicant impact on a child’s life.

Giving kids in Northern New Mexico an op-

portunity for a happier life that they did notknow existed is very rewarding.”o

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big brothers big sisters of northern new mexico 2011

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