On Thursday, May 19th, the Big Brothers Big Sisters Columbia Northwest community came together at OMSI to celebrate the graduation of matches from the class of 2022. The hosts of the evening, Jaasyel Monroy, Match Support Specialist, and Ninfa Rodriguez, Program Coordinator for Futuros Grandes, led the bilingual ceremony for families and supporters to enjoy.
As an agency, we were so thrilled to bring our community back together for the very first in-person graduation celebration since before the pandemic. Being together that night lifted our spirits and filled us with hope for the 35 graduates who are embarking on their path into adulthood.
We had the pleasure of hearing from Alumni Little Brother, Gerardo Morales, who shared more about his 15-year-long match with his Big Brother Adam. Their match started when Gerardo was just 7 years old after his father had been incarcerated for the first time. Knowing that Gerardo would benefit from having a positive male role model in his life, Gerardo’s Mom signed him up for our program. Skeptical of his new mentor, Gerardo admittedly took a while to open up to Adam, but Adam’s patience, consistency, and friendship helped to build trust with Gerardo. As their friendship has grown, Adam is often the first-person Gerardo turns to for advice on how to navigate life as a first-generation college graduate, now out in the working world.
One of the best moments of the night came when the graduates took the stage. Proudly sporting bright green graduation stoles, each graduate walked the stage with their Big, parent, or guardian. Of the 35 graduates, 13 students applied and won scholarships of $500 to begin their new journeys. With a 92% graduation rate this year, compared to the state rate of 80%, everyone in the room beamed with pride in celebration of all the Littles commemorating this special day. Thank you to everyone who made this special event possible, including our event sponsors OnPoint Community Credit Union, and Flowbird.
To see more photos from the graduation celebration, click here to see our Flickr account.
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