In 1903 a man by the name of Irvin F. Westiemer encountered a young boy in an alley. This boy was searching for food in a garbage can. This unfortunate sight inspired him to organize an agency, which would be responsible for providing little boys who have no father figure, a male role model. This concept led to the creation of Big Brothers in the early 1900's. Irvin F. Westiemer is responsible for a non-profit, North American wide, private social service. The theory of introducing a male role model to one of these young boys, who have gone without, is to make a dramatic change in self-esteem, trust and the ability to hold a strong bond between friends. Since established in Canada in 1913, there are now over 170 agencies across Canada. Big Brothers has a reputation for providing quality service to help improve the boys outlook on life and most important, making them "boys." Today in Oshawa – Whitby there are more than 200 boys who have gone without the "father figure", because of many reasons, including death and jail. My placement has been an "eye-opening" experience and has shown just how important a role model can be. Discussions will be given on the outline of the personnel and structure of the agency, funding, my role while beginning my volunteer work at Big Brothers, and the positive and negative aspects of the agency, followed with possible improvements to services.
             Big Brothers is a private agency that relies mainly on its volunteers. Without the volunteer's who supply their time to help make the difference, there would be no "backbone" to the organization (the Bigs themselves.) Being a private service agency, Big Brothers is accountable to it's own board of directors and paid staff, incase of any mishaps that might occur, or for implementation of new changes in programs or vital functions in the organization. Each person who volunteers to be a Big Bro...