One-To-One Mentoring for Berks County Kids From Big Brothers Big Sisters

To enroll, a child must be 8 to 15 years old, must be a resident of Berks County, and must live in a single parent household. The parent and child must be willing to attend any support or training workshops or meetings required by BBBS, and to cooperate with the agency in supervising and monitoring the match. The child must want to be matched with a Big Brother or Big Sister and to keep that relationship going for at least a year, must lack a supportive and nurturing relationship with the absent parent or significant members of the extended family, and must be capable of deriving some benefit from BBBS programs.

The volunteer mentor, called a Big, is a positive adult role model aged 19 or older. Matches meet an average of eight to ten hours per month, and no less than four hours per month in the community-based One-To-One program. The Big, the Little, and the Little's parent or guardian decide together what the outings are and when they happen, with guidance and support from BBBS professional staff. Bigs and Littles are asked to make a one-year commitment, but matches can stay in the program until the child graduates from high school. The program is free.

Start with the Enroll Today link on the Enroll Your Child section of bigsinberks.org, which goes to bbbs.org/enroll-a-child.

Matches are made on factors including the preferences of the Big, the Little and the parent or guardian, geographic location, likes and dislikes, and hobbies and interests. When a Big is ready to be matched, staff present that volunteer with two to four choices of Littles. After the Big chooses, the Casework Manager contacts the Little's parent to discuss the potential match, then speaks with the Little. With the approval of all three parties, the match goes to the Executive Director or a delegate for approval, and then the Casework Manager schedules a Match Meeting, the first time the Big, the Little and the parent or guardian all meet.

Every volunteer goes through an application with at least four references for community-based volunteers, background checks including Criminal, CHILDLINE and DMV, an interview, and for One-To-One volunteers a home assessment. One-To-One volunteers must also complete Volunteer General and Volunteer One-To-One training before being matched.

Children are not always matched right away. While waiting for a One-To-One match, Littles can attend the Club of Unmatched Littles, a group program with supervised activities held weekly, usually on a Tuesday evening, plus at least one Saturday activity per month. Attendance is encouraged but not mandatory. If a community-based match ends, staff talk through the road ahead with the Little and the parent or guardian, and a child who stays with the agency returns to the COUL group activities while awaiting a possible new One-To-One match.

For questions, the agency's general contact is 303 Windsor St., Centre Park, Reading, PA 19601, phone (610) 373-5544, email coul@bigsinberks.org. The page does not give office hours or say how long enrollment takes, so ask when you get in touch.

Source: bigsinberks.org/mentoring-programs, read September 18, 2026.

The details

In Big Brothers Big Sisters of Berks County’s words

This is our best known program, and the cornerstone of our agency. A positive adult role model (aged 19 or older) is matched with a Little Brother or Little Sister for at least one year. The Little and Big meet for a minimum of 8-to-10 hours per month. The Big, Little, and parent/guardian of the Little decide on what the outings are and when they occur…with guidance and support form BBBS professional staff. Tremendous flexibility exists with this proven program offering.

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