There is practically no limit to the number of ways you can stay active. You’ve probably already set aside some time during our days at home to get the blood pumping in one way or another. So, why not get the blood pumping in whatever way you can to support youth in the community?
That’s the aim of Big Brothers Big Sisters of York with their Move For Kids’ Sake, a virtual event that is taking the place of the organization’s popular Bowl for Kids’ Sake fundraiser.
On now through March 31, Move for Kids’ Sake encourages people to stay active and have fun, all the while raising money for much needed mentorship programs for youth across York Region.
“In response to COVID-19, we had to transition our signature Bowl for Kids’ Sake event into a different type of virtual fundraiser and we really wanted to focus on the aspects around mental health and how we can get our participants engaged in a fundraiser that not only, yes, raises funds for our programs but will also support their mental health by physical activity,” says Suzanne Boucher, fundraising and events coordinator for Big Brothers Big Sisters of York.
“We have had such great feedback so far. We’re in our third week right now of this virtual campaign and everyone is having such a good time. We have people doing push-ups all the way up to snowshoeing. We have people who even decided to do a hot wings-eating challenge. It’s all over the place and (as of Thursday, March 11) we’re almost at $13,000 raised, which is incredible.”
With a goal of raising $25,000 to help facilitate programs matching boys and girls in the community – “littles” – with older mentors – “bigs” – they are well on the way to crossing the finish line. But however successful they have been so far, the money they have been able to bring in pales in comparison to their bowling event.
“Compared to Bowl for Kids’ Sake, we are really down with numbers at this time,” says Boucher. “At this time, we would have 500 to 600 bowlers signed up and for Move for Kids’ Sake, right now we have 44 participants. That is a huge difference, but we’re still trying to get people engaged.”
Underscoring the importance of these fundraising endeavours is the increased demand for virtual programs stemming from the global pandemic. Over the holiday season, for instance, Big Brothers Big Sisters of York (BBBSY) reached out to virtual learning programs throughout York Region on their Go Girls program, a group mentoring program for young women.
After holding a virtual Go Girls session, uptake was significant and from these pre-winter holiday engagement sessions to coming back to the office after the New Year, BBBSY saw 600 families sign up for the initiative.
“That is more than what we usually serve in a year, so the need is great right now, especially because of the isolation that our children are experiencing right now,” says Boucher. “Just seeing that number shocked us and that is why we had to get going with Move for Kids’ Sake, trying to get more funds because, at the moment, we don’t even have enough volunteers to serve those children. We want to use this event as awareness to raise funds so we can keep these programs going and also have the awareness that we still do need volunteers as well.”
It is not too late to sign up for the Move for Kids’ Sake challenge and collect pledges, nor is it too late to head over to the BBBSY website to pledge your support for an already registered individual team.
Every little bit goes a long way, says the organization, and each dollar will go toward programs that will improve youth mental health across the region.
“We have a virtual swag bag where we have some local organizations and businesses here in York Region that are donating their services so we have a personal trainer on board who is donating a personal training class, we have a yoga company that has generously donated an online virtual yoga class for all of our participants. We have weekly contests going on and a raffle where…for every $100 that is raised, you get a raffle ticket for your chance to win some exciting prizes. There’s still lots going on and we are really excited to hit that goal for this year.
“If someone doesn’t have the time to participate, we’re really encouraging people to just sponsor or donate to teams that are already signed up. We have a couple of former bigs and former littles that are signed up. If they want to go in and support them in their journey right now, we’re really trying to push that across as well.”
To do just that, or to sign up for Move for Kids’ Sake, visit york.bigbrothersbigsisters.ca/event/moveforkidssake.
Brock Weir is a federally funded Local Journalism Initiative reporter at The Auroran
