Dear Sponsor,
 
As a valuable and consistent sponsor of our wonderful programs and fundraisers, we wanted you to be the first to know of an upcoming change to our organization.
Our organization has been a part of the national Big Brothers Big Sisters program since its founding in 1981. The directives from the national office have started to impact our local organization in a way that hinders our mission of helping the greatest number of kids possible in Decatur County. The national office is leaning more toward big businesses and larger affiliates. They do not understand the small-town connections and have implemented fees and policies that simply do not work to benefit our kids and our community. In Decatur County, we value our one-to-one connections with community members, sponsors, and mentors. Due to this, our Board of Directors has decided to part ways with our affiliation with Big Brothers Big Sisters.
 
Starting in 2019, we are thrilled to announce that every penny we receive will now stay in Decatur County, helping our children, and our community grow stronger.We will rename our organization to Champions of Youth. We will remain a 501(c)(3) organization and we will carry on our mission of helping kids by pairing them with positive adult mentors. We will continue on with our programs and fundraisers, but we will have to change the names, so they do not infringe on BBBS copyrights.
 
This change will only positively impact our community by allowing us to help more “at risk” kids get the mentoring they need to succeed in life. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about this change, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. As mentioned above, every penny that we raise will now stay in Decatur County, so we hope that you will continue to support our programs and the youth in our community.
 
Sincerely,
 
 
Lisa Hermesch
Executive Director