'Give it a shot': Big Brothers Big Sisters looking for mentors in Central Indiana

INDIANAPOLIS — Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana serves more than 1,200 kids every year in Hamilton, Johnson, and Marion counties.

Their mission is to defend, ignite and empower every child they serve, and they need our help.

“We got matched up when he was 13 and we had a lot of things in common, like sports, and we always loved just going out and finding a burger or some wings and just watching sports,” said Bobby Humphrey, a mentor in the BBBS program.

Humphrey has been in the program for five years and while his mentee is now aged out of the program, Humphrey said he has a friend for life.

“I've gotten to know his family, his brother, his sister, so we've got to be really close and looking forward to the next step in his journey, which is college and then after that,” Humphrey said.

Humphrey was matched with his “little brother” by a match specialist, making sure they shared hobbies and interests.

The same was done for Ryan Woo and his mentee, Jerome.

“Jerome is an awesome kid. We matched when he was in eighth grade. He's really competitive in Taekwondo — he’s like top three in the world for his age. I was a competitive golfer, so I kind of know what it's like to try to balance between school and in competition,” Woo said.

Woo has been mentor for three years and he said they quickly became family.

“It really feels like family. I hang out with Shauna and Rihanna and Jerome, like his mother and sister, and we’ve gone to Pacers games together for fun and it feels like a part of the family at this point,” Woo said.

Both Humphrey and Woo encouraged people to not hesitate about joining Big Brothers Big Sisters if they are thinking about it.

“Just give it a shot. I was kind of worried about the time commitment at first, but Big Brothers Big Sisters made it really, really flexible based on my ability to balance between work and hanging out with Jerome or being out of town, so it's really really flexible and it's an incredible experience,” Woo said.

About 70% of those kids looking for mentor are boys. Click here to learn more about volunteering.