Big Brothers Big Sisters raises $145,806 at community breakfast

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cedar Rapids & East Central Iowa is pleased to announce results from their recent Big Magic Breakfast, held on April 25th at the Cedar Rapids Marriott. Community members came together to help put youth on a path to success! The purpose of this breakfast was to educate and inspire community members about the positive impact youth mentoring makes for area youth and the whole community.

“Our community has stepped forward in significant ways to ensure that all children are put on a path to success,” shares Linda Henecke, President and CEO. “Nearly 400 guests attended to learn about the needs children face in the community. The community members provided valuable donations, resulting in $145,806 in current pledges and an 8 year event total exceeding $1 million of support for youth mentoring!”

KCRG's Adam Carros acted as emcee for this event and introduced Charles Pierson, CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. Charles honored the local agency's success and celebrated $1,000,000 in Big Magic donations. Inspirational messages were heard from President & CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cedar Rapids & East Central Iowa, Linda Henecke, and Current Little Sisters Jessica. Nearly 400 community members joined in celebration of the impact on 1,000 youth in our community who have experienced relationships that are changing their lives for the better, forever.

This event was sponsored by Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust, TrueNorth Companies and United Fire Group. If you are interested in learning more about the work of Big Brothers Big Sisters, please contact: 319-377-8993.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cedar Rapids and East Central Iowa, BeABigCR.org, provides children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported one-to-one relationships that change their lives for the better, forever. Most children served by Big Brothers Big Sisters are being raised in single-parent and low-income families or households where a parent is incarcerated. As the nation's largest donor and volunteer supported mentoring network, Big Brothers Big Sisters makes meaningful, monitored matches between adult volunteers (“Bigs”) and children (“Littles”). Big Brothers Big Sisters seeks to facilitate the success of children living in our community by providing support to help children grow as individuals and by encouraging educational and extra-curricular activities.