WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — The Big Brothers Big Sisters of Wichita County are looking for more mentors for their mentorship programs.

Mary Helen Maskill with Big Brothers Big Sisters stopped by our show on Thursday, March 9, to talk about the different way you can get involved.

Carney Porter: Well, Mary Helen Maskill is joining us today to talk about the Big Brothers Big Sister mentoring program. You’re in need right now. We need mentors for those kiddos. So thank you so much for being here today.

Mary Helen Maskill: Oh, thank you. And you guys are always great. You helped us with Dancing for the Stars and everything else, but I don’t know that everybody out there knows as much about it. We have so many. It’s not just a 1-to-1 mentoring thing anymore. We have so many different ways where if you volunteer, you can come in there, you can go into the schools, you can be in a nursing home and and be a grandmother to a kid. There’s just a whole bunch of different ways. And it doesn’t hurt to just apply and see if it fits. And if it doesn’t, then that’s fine. You can walk away. But we just really need the people to understand that and apply, so that we can get these last kiddos, before school’s out, some Bigs to enjoy.

Carney Porter: And how many – do we know roughly how many we’re looking to fill? The mentoring spots to fill?

Mary Helen Maskill: We have probably maybe 25 to 30 that really need.

Carney Porter: Really need it.

Mary Helen Maskill: Yeah. And they can – you know, it’s not as bad as it used to be because the community has really stepped up. But sometimes they can be on there for a year until we find someone. And we really would love for the men to step up.

Carney Porter: Yes, the men are always needed.

Mary Helen Maskill: Sometimes if you’re the breadwinner, it may be hard to work in, you know, the times, but really 4 hours a month is all they ask for, and, you know, you could make that 2 hours on a Saturday, you know, and that takes care of half of it. So there’s just all kinds of ways that we can fit into your schedule for you to help us mentor these kids.

Carney Porter: And yeah, sometimes I think men think you have to have this sort of nurturing state of mind. It’s no, it’s just being a part of their lives and just hanging out, even making the most basic of memories.

Mary Helen Maskill: And bring them into your family. Do whatever you’re going to do on the weekend with your family. That’s just that’s what it’s all about. And just – they’ll see how other people are making it, and they’ll realize they’re not the only ones that get yelled at or anything else or whatever.

Carney Porter: So you’re like, ‘Oh, this is normal.’

Mary Helen Maskill: Yeah, this is just the way it is, so we’d love for the community to wake up and give us those last few volunteers we need to so the kids – going into the summer, it’ll automatically slow down because we don’t have access to the schools and things like that. We have school-based programs where you can go once a month and go to sit with the kids and eat lunch. There’s just all kinds of ways that you can help.

Carney Porter: Right. Well, if you’d like to be a part of that and be a mentor to some kiddos, we have all the information for you to do so over on our website. Thank you so much for joining us today.