"Of all the opportunities there are to give back to the Madison community, one of my favorites is one-on-one mentoring where I have the chance to truly have a positive impact on someone," says Community Outreach Officer Tyler Grigg.
In its 2nd year, Bigs in Blue is a mentoring program that connects Madison area youth with police in their communities to build stronger bonds between law enforcement and the families they serve to make a positive influence in the lives of children. Partnering with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Dane County, there are currently 6 officers matched, or in the process of being matched, with a "Little".
Mentors, or "Bigs", meet with their Littles once a week during lunch or immediately after school, enjoying time together and building relationships that foster personal and academic growth sometimes through sports or even homework club.
Tyler jokes, "My little broski was shocked to see me come back this fall to hang out with him again. I could see the grin form on his face as I told him, 'Listen dude, you're stuck with me every week until you graduate high school.' And without any more confusion, we continued our game of billiards from last spring, where he is destroying me, 7 games to 2."
Contact our Community Outreach and Resource Education Team (CORE) to find out more about this, and other great programs for youth: