“Facing Life’s Challenges with a Song in My Heart”

In 1972 Zoro’s mother made a decision that would change her son’s life. Realizing that she couldn’t spend all the time with him that she wanted to, and understanding that he would benefit from a male role model, the single mother of seven contacted Big Brothers Big Sisters and signed up her three youngest children, Zoro among them, for Big Brothers.

In an unusual situation, Zoro and his siblings were matched with a couple named Bill and Beverly Large. This wasn’t a typical Big Brothers Big Sisters match, which is generally a one-to-one mentoring relationship between one Big and one Little. But once matched, Zoro experienced the joy of being a Little Brother just like other Littles. “There were many magical first-time experiences with the Larges,” Zoro remembers. “They took us to our first football game, on fishing, hunting and camping trips, and even for our first pizza and Chinese food. The trips we took with them have formed lifetime memories.”

Their Guidance, and their Friendship, Have Lasted a Lifetime, Too

“I can remember when I was going through a hard time at school,” Zoro says. “When my mother told Bill and Beverly, they came to my emotional rescue. They talked me down from the tree I had climbed up to hide from the world. They cheered me up and convinced me that life would get better.”

Zoro was extremely close to both the Larges, but Bill played an extra-special part as the male role model he desperately needed in his life. “Bill is an awesome man with the heart of a servant and the spirit of a true teacher. He was kind, patient, understanding and fun.”

Today, 35 years later, Zoro is still close friends with the Larges. And he looks back on the time they gave him and realizes:

“There is No Better Investment You Can Make than to Invest in Children.”

Zoro has repaid his mentors by carrying on their legacy. “The Big Brothers Big Sisters program changed my life in profound ways and because of that positive experience I now mentor, building up and encouraging people wherever I go.”

How much of a difference could you make in the life of a boy who needs a mentor? Quite simply, you could change his life. “Were it not for mentoring, I would never have achieved all the success I have enjoyed,” Zoro says.

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