By Claudia Loucks
Geneseo Current
Jeff Belvel is a “Big” for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mississippi Valley organization because he believes that “every child has the ability to succeed in life.”
Belvel, a school psychologist who works for the Henry-Stark Counties Special Education District in Kewanee that serves area school districts including Geneseo, has been involved with the BBBS since 2008.
Big Brothers Big Sisters is a donor and volunteer supported organization tht serves youth ages 7-18 throughout Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois. It is the belief of Big Brothers Big Sisters that every child has the inherent ability o succeed and thrive in life. The mission of the organization is to make and support one-to-one mentoring relationships between adult volunteers, “Bigs”, and children, “Littles”, to help youth reach their full potential.
Belvel shared how he became involved with BBBS in 2008 and said it was when a school employee in Geneseo asked if he was interested in participating in Big Brothers Big Sisters school lunch buddy program.
“I was matched with a boy in elementary school and we ate lunch together, played games, and talked about Star Wars, video games, friends, and school a couple of times a month,” he said. ‘We continued to meet for lunch until he was in middle school and then we transitioned to the community-based program. That allowed us to meet outside of school and during the summer months.”
The community-based program broadened the activities we could do such as movies, mini-golfing, kayaking, shopping, going out to eat at restaurants and participating in Big Brothers Big Sisters events. We continued to meet through the community-based program until my Little graduated from high school.”
After taking a couple of years off from the program, Belvel was matched with his second Little a few years ago.
When Belvel was asked how the BBBS program is rewarding to him, he said, “I strongly believe that every child has the ability to succeed and realize their potential,” Belvel said. “It’s rewarding to see Littles grow, try something new, or open up about problems they might be experiencing. That is when the mentoring relationship can have the biggest impact. I believe the mentoring relationship helps build self-confidence, resilience, and problem-solving skills that will help them meet life challenges.”
“There is a great need for men to volunteer to be Bigs,’ he said. “There are over 230 Littles, mostly boys, waiting to be matched with Bigs.
Belvel is Dad to two daughters, Lauren and Jessalyn.
ABOUT THE UPCOMING FUNDRAISER
On Saturday, Aug. 26, Belvel and another volunteer with BBBS, Michelle Nordstrom, will be going “Over the Edge for Kids Sake” by rappelling 11 stories down the Hotel Blackhawk in Davenport, Iowa.
”We committed to raise $1,750 for Big Brothers Big Sisters so we could participate in the event,” Belvel said. “I am happy to say that we have exceeded our goal! We will continue to fundraise through the end of the month and there are others that are still working to meet their goal. I encourage everyone to donate to our campaign or one of the other ‘Edger’s’ campaigns. You can make a difference and all money raised stays local.”
The upcoming “Over the Edge” event is not the first for Belvel. He also participated in the “Over the Edge” in 2018 and has volunteered on the rope crew for that event every year.
Money raised through “Over the Edge” stays local and is used to make and support one-to-one mentoring relationships, Big Brothers Big Sisters-sponsored events, career education for Littles, and resources for Bigs. Information on how to donate to “Over the Edge for Kids Sake” is available at https://p2p.onecause.com/oteqc2023/leaderboard.
More information about Big Brothers Big Sisters is available at https://www.bbbsmv.org.
