Arab American Family Services hit a milestone this month; they completed the first annual Arab American Big Brothers Big Sisters program
AAFS, in partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Chicago Palestine Film Festival, are so proud of this great accomplishment.
In its first year, we have been fortunate to have wonderful Arab American professional mentors who dedicated their time, unselfishly, to be there and help guide many young, Arab youth. This year, we had eleven mentors and eleven mentees, team up, twice a month, from October through June.
Mentees were able to get advice from their mentors, help with homework and offer guidance to the youth. In the following years, we are only hoping to grow the program. We want more mentors and mentees to come together and dedicate the time to help our Arab youth thrive and succeed.
Mentors were happy to see their mentee interact and enjoy the time spent together. Reviews were asked to be given by attendees of the program. We were fortunate to receive a 100 percent satisfactory rating stating that the program’s level of organization was well planned and well organized.
One hundred percent ratings were also given for the program coordinator, who was said to be responsive and caring for all participant’s needs. They were also pleased with the matching level for the mentors and mentees and the program was described as being a high quality program.
“I am really having fun with this and can only hope that my little will learn and benefit from the program,” said one mentor.
“The activities were great and surprisingly, they were entertaining for the bigs too,” they added.
So on behalf of AAFS, we want to say thank you to our wonderful Arab American professional mentors who gave from their heart and built lasting friendships and the gave of their time in meaningful ways. And thank you to our young Arab Americans, tomorrow’s future, who are smart, energetic and bubbling with ideas. Never give up.
September will kick off the second year of the program. We want you to take part in this wonderful opportunity to help your community grow in knowledge and wisdom.
Mentees could be from the ages of 9 to 12, while mentors should be 18 and older. To learn more please contact us at 708-599-2237.
