Monday, February 1, 2010

Big Brother End of Year Ceremony

To mark the end of a productive year of volunteering, the Big Brother Program participants held a ceremony this week, to award certificates of appreciation to all the volunteers. Big Brother is a mentoring project operated by the Social services Dept of Ashkelon with the support of the Ashkelon-Baltimore Partnership.

The Big Brother volunteers each "adopted" a child of 6-12 years old. At weekly meetings, the Big Brother volunteers help their charges with homework, play with them, give them much-needed attention and inspiration, listen to their problems. The children receive personal attention, guidance, empowerment and life-skills.

Liat Levi is the coordinator for the program. The Big Brother volunteers receive professional guidance and support, and take part in group learning sessions with their fellow volunteers.

Shlomo Cohen, Deputy Mayor of Ashkelon and Israeli Chairman of the Ashkelon-Baltimore Partnership, said "I am pleased to see that there are so many dedicated volunteers in Ashkelon. Volunteerism in the city is continually expanding. It is clear that the Big Brother volunteers have made a lasting impression on the children they mentored and given them skills and grounding to help them cope with life's challenges "

Meir Bouhnik - Director of Ashkelon Foundation, Shulamit Maimon - Head of Social Services, and Mazal Levi - Head of Community Services also attended the ceremony together with representatives from this year's Big Brother program and last year's program.

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