The Keene State Big Brothers Big Sisters, or Bigs Club for short, had a toy drive in the student center, where people can donate gently used children’s toys.
“We have the Toys for Littles boxes in the student center for college students to donate their old toys so they can be given to littles who may need some toys around the holidays,” said Michael Lamarre, vice president of the Bigs Club.
The club is student-run and is partnered with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Monadnock Region.
Their goal is to assist student volunteers who are looking to match with a little brother or little sister.
Bigs provide support and act as role models for their littles.
On Saturday, the Bigs Club joined with the Student Nutrition Association at Keene State (SNAKS) club in the Joslin House.
Together, they educated the children about eating healthy and baked some nutritious snacks.
Mary D’Orvilliers, co-president of the Bigs club, called the event a success.
“Co-hosting the event with SNAKS was a new idea.The children loved the hands-on activities and got to make healthy snacks that they could bring home and share with their family,” D’Orvilliers said.
“For the children who were uninterested in cooking, we had coloring pages and arts and crafts activities.”
Members of the club aren’t obligated to be a big.
Many volunteers come to events just to show support and spend time with the kids, which is highly encouraged.
“It’s not an exclusive club because most of our events are open to the campus, so people who love kids or are missing their siblings can stop by,” D’Orvilliers stated. “My favorite thing about the club is that we are able to form connections with the community of Keene and form special bonds with children who look forward to seeing us and consider us role models. It’s very humbling to have that type of an impact on a child’s life.”
The club’s advisor Jessica Gagne Cloutier was contacted for an interview, but did not respond.
To learn more about the Bigs Club at Keene State, contact them at KSCBigBrothersBigSisters@gmail.com, or come by one of the weekly meetings Tuesdays at 6 p.m. in the Atrium Conference Room of the Young Student Center.
Pete Dubois can be contacted at pdubois@kscequinox.com
