Recent donations to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Douglas County will help the organization support 18 additional mentorships in the area.

In December, two anonymous donors pledged to match a combined $95,000 to Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters. The goal to raise the funds by the end of the year was met, and the Lawrence community raised more than $9,000 of the total, according to BBBS of Douglas County.

“That $9,000 is what we raised here locally, and $9,000 will be matched,” said Stacie Schroeder, BBBS of Douglas County area director. “So at the end of the year we brought in about $18,000 for our community, which is huge.”

BBBS provides one-on-one mentorships for at-risk youth ages 5 to 17. The program has community- and school-based mentorship programs. For the community-based program, the mentors and their “littles” do activities together after school or on weekends. School mentors have lunch with their elementary or middle school student once per week or visit them during their after-school program. The program also hosts several events annually, such as picnics or talent shows, that bring all participants together.

Schroeder said the $18,000 will be used for program expenses and helping to support additional mentorships.

“It’s approximately $1,000 per match — to make a match or maintain a match in our program,” she said. “So with those funds that’s going to help us serve 18 children in the community.”

In December, the Douglas County BBBS had about 80 kids on its waiting list and Schroeder said they have accepted about another 20 applicants since then that they also hope to match as they begin their annual mentor recruitment and fundraising campaign this month.

The event, Bowl for Kids’ Sake, has three teams that compete over the next few months for the most volunteer mentors recruited and most funds raised to support those mentorships.

This year’s event, “Go Big or Go Home Challenge,” is being supported by men’s basketball coaches from Kansas University, Kansas State University and Wichita State University: coaches Bill Self, Bruce Weber and Gregg Marshall. Participants pick which coach they’d like to contribute under, and the amount of volunteers and donations are tracked in a competition among the three.

“Coach Self, Coach Weber of K-State and Coach Marshall of Wichita State have all kind of lent their voices and their celebrity status in the state of Kansas to help us gain some momentum with our campaign of recruiting more mentors and recruiting dollars to support those matches,” Schroeder said.

Fundraising teams can be organized under individuals, families or organizations, and teams participate in bowling tournaments that begin next week. Teams can sign up to participate over the next few months on the Douglas County Brothers Big Sisters website.