Sister of year has seen fruits of mentoring

Kelcy Dolan
Posted 2/19/15

Lauren Conway of Warwick remembers her first meeting with 7-year-old Alejandra, “Ale.”

The two had just been matched up through Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ocean State (BBBSOS), a …

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Sister of year has seen fruits of mentoring

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Lauren Conway of Warwick remembers her first meeting with 7-year-old Alejandra, “Ale.”

The two had just been matched up through Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ocean State (BBBSOS), a mentoring program.

Lauren decided to take Ale to Barnes & Noble for a craft night and some reading.

“I still remember our first meeting. She didn’t say a word and the craft ended up being for a younger age group, but she did the craft just to please me,” Lauren said.

Now, the pair has known each other for four years. Lauren has helped Ale learn to swim, ride a bike and the two can’t stop talking when they are together.

“Ale has matured, she has more confidence. She isn’t a little girl anymore. She’s coming to understand her goals. She knows if she can work hard she can get what she wants out of life.”

In January, National Mentoring Month, Lauren was announced as the Big Sister of the Year by BBBSOS, while she was serving on a panel for the Mentoring Rally.

“I didn’t even know I had been nominated,” Lauren said. “I was really surprised and honored to have won. It is like Ale and I both won.”

Ale, at last month’s mentoring rally after hearing Lauren had won Big Sister of the Year, said how big of a role Lauren has played in her life.

“I get to learn from my struggles,” she said, “and I know that I have really great opportunities, which I wouldn’t have had before Lauren.” 

Lauren thinks that her and Ale’s relationship has evolved into a lifetime friendship and it is not only Ale, now 11, who benefits from it.

She has also built a relationship with the whole, “great” family, becoming close with Ale’s mother.

They have been through milestones together, participating in bike runs together, celebrating holidays and even a major school change for Ale when she moved to Sophia Academy in Providence.

Lauren said a “Big Sister” is supposed to be someone that can be relied on and show support even during difficult times and to give the “littles” experiences they may not have had otherwise.

“I think what most people don’t see is everything bigs get from these relationships,” Lauren said. “Just like the kids, bigs are exposed to things they wouldn’t be normally. You get to be a kid again; go to the zoo, the aquarium, even just to go get a milkshake, the fun things adults can forget to do. Things change in life, but I know I will always have this relationship with Ale.”

George Evans Marley, the marketing and community outreach specialist, said that every year the Big Sister and Big Brother of the year are chosen by a group of match support specialists.

Marley said, “Lauren deserves this award not just for her dedication to her little, but the agency as a whole. She doesn’t want just Ale to succeed; she wants to see every kid in this program do well. She sees the greater picture of the greater good.”

On top of having her own little, Lauren also works on the Activity Planning Committee and plays an active role in recruitment for the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization.

As Chief Financial Officer for UnitedHealthcare of New England, Lauren has boasted about the program at meetings and

UnitedHealthcare sponsored the mentoring rally last month.

She said, “UnitedHealthcare has also been so supportive and really great. A few people I work with here have even become bigs.”

Currently, more than 200 kids are on the waiting list for a Big Brother or Big Sister, many of them young boys.

“Going forward, I am so excited to continue working with this great organization and I would love to see the waiting list go down and do whatever I can to help that,” Lauren said.

Marley said that so many people over-think the mentoring relationship.

He said, “You need to be a friend to these kids. It doesn’t have to be an instantaneous life-changing relationship, just one that will grow and be successful over time. You can be a role model.”

BBBSOS will soon launch a new campaign, “Mission Possible, 200 Mentors in 2015” to help bring down the waiting list of kids throughout the state.

There are also going to be new and free recruitment events where current “Bigs” bring friends who may be interested in mentoring to see what the program is really about.

For more information on BBBSOS, their events or to become a mentor, visit their website, www.bbbsos.org, or call their offices at 921-2434.

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