Lanark County Independent Grocers are supporting Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lanark County in Smiths Falls, Perth and Almonte at their cash registers this week. Andress’ Independent, Patrice’s Independent and Barnabe’s Independent cashiers will be offering customers an opportunity to donate $2 with their grocery order from August 12^th to 20^th.

All proceeds from these donations will be used to help continue mentoring programs for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lanark County, a local children’s charity. The agency provides one on one and group mentoring programs for over 250 children throughout the County. The local agency does not receive government funding so relies on fundraisers such as this one to provide their mentoring programs to local children.

Mentoring at-risk children in Lanark County is a huge endeavor.  The vision of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lanark County is that every child in Lanark County who needs a mentor has a mentor.  The benefits of adequate mentorship are significant and essential to healthy development of youth. Mentoring is more than just a nice service and your help is needed to make even more mentoring opportunities happen for our youth.

• 78% of former Little Brothers who came from a social assistance background do not rely on social assistance as adults.
• Over 80% of former Little Brothers attained at least a secondary school diploma, compared to 60% of other people in their own age group.
• Little Brothers and Little Sisters were found to be 46% less likely to initiate drug use than children studied in the control group.
• Little Brothers and Little Sisters were found to be 27% less likely to initiate alcohol use than children studied in the control group.

Supporters can make a difference in the life of a child by donating at the cash register this week and checking out the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lanark County displays at Andress’, Barnabe’s and Patrice’s.

More information about how you can support Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lanark County can be found on their website at www.bigbrothersbigsisterslanark.ca or by calling their office at 613-283-0570.