Zach and Jay

Jay, a volunteer Big Brother in the Community-Based mentoring program through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Bath/Brunswick, and his Little Brother Zach have been spending time together since September of 2007. Jay is an operations manager at L.L. Bean. Zach is a student at Mt. Ararat High School.

The friends enjoy numerous activities together, many of which take place out doors. They have gone hiking and snowshoeing at several local parks and nature trails. Zach was pleased to share that he beat Jay in a foot race to the top of Bradbury Mountain.

Jay, who had never kayaked before, was happy to report that because of Zach's interest in the sport, they now kayak on a regular basis. On their first outing they rented kayaks from SeaSpray Kayaking and paddled around the New Meadows River. This interest in kayaking has lead to another fun project, building a boat rack for Jay's truck. This is a continuing project, "We'll work more on it in the Spring," Jay said, "we should paint it," Zach chimed in.

In addition to the out door fun, the friends are both avid readers and spend time at Curtis Memorial Library checking out books. They also enjoy playing scrabble at Borders and at the Gelato Fiasco while Jay drinks coffee and Zach has a hot chocolate. Wednesdays are a late start day at Mt. Ararat, so Zach and Jay will sometimes grab breakfast before school.

Jay enjoys Zach's sense of adventure and curiosity. He appreciates that they can be active together and that their conversations have become more mature and natural over time. They discuss life issues, and it is nice to hear a younger person's perspectives, observations, and questions. Zach has helped Jay tap into new interests such as playing scrabble, kayaking, and checking out library books, as opposed to always buying new books.

Zach likes that Jay, "is really easy going and persists on doing stuff." Zach says that Jay encourages him to try new things they can meet in the middle and make decisions about activities that they both will enjoy, even if those differ at times. "It's the barter system," Zach said, "he's also easy to talk to and kind with his answers, he tries to guide me on a path to take, also Jay is willing to try things that are out of his range of experiences."

Jay would encourage anyone who has ever considered becoming a Big to follow their instincts and get involved. For Jay, listening to a guest speaker at a United Way rally held at L.L Bean was the turning point that urged him to become a Big. The speaker was a Big Brother from the Portland area who shared that the program was really fun, and that he maintains a lasting friendship with his Little Brother, who is now an adult. After hearing this story, Jay thought that becoming a Big would be a great opportunity to help a child enjoy experiences that they might not have otherwise, and preserve a fun friendship. Jay also wanted to re-visit his interest in community service, an area of his life that he had not fully tapped into since he was in his twenties. Recently, Jay has also joined the Board of Directors for BBBS, "because of my belief in commitment and to the organization, I wanted to help more," Jay said.

Zach and Jay are looking forward to future activities including to hike Mt. Katadin. This means that they will be spending more time walking and hiking to get into shape. Jay hasn't been to Mt. Katadin since 1987 and it will be a first trip for Zach. Through their friendship Jay and Zach and have both found mutually beneficial experiences. If you are interested in becoming a Big Brother or Big Sister in the Community-Based program please contact the office at: 729-7736 ex:16 and speak with Aurora Joseph, Match Support Specialist or email her at: community@bbbsbathbrun.org. Or contact us to learn about our School -Based programs.